South Korea

HIYA!

I have decided I want to do some sort of physical work out. I was thinking I'd really like to learn something distinctly Korean. Like a martial art. So I looked into a few of them. But there all full of kicking and punching. Really violently too. I woulnd't mind something full of punching and kicking if it were a bit mild. But these are intense. I'm not comfortable with the idea. There was a time when I felt I'd be okay with it. But I've changed my mind.

Decided on yoga. It's big among Koreans. Somebody once told me of a Korean style yoga. And my boss took me to a yoga studio near the school. Only a few minutes walk. The teacher there said it was Korean style yoga. Sounds great. 60,000 won a month. About $US60. Not too expensive. I could go five days a week, an hour each time. The lady serves tea afterwards too. And there's meditation afterwards. I'm still really interested.

But, the lady suggested buying some Korean style clothing to wear in class. So I went to a place that a lady at the temple suggested. The shop sells monks' clothing and traditional Korean style clothing for daily wear. Not "costumes". I went and told the lady at the shop that I wanted to wear the clothes for yoga. She got really excited. She fussed over what would be best for me. I didn't really like what she had picked out for me. But in the end we agreed on a suit that I like a lot. (If I can borrow a camera or a cell phone with a camera on it I'll put a picture of me on this blog. Actually, I do have three pictures taken just a couple of weeks ago that I will put on. Give me a bit of time please.)

Well, this lady does yoga. She suggested I go to the studio where she goes. So the next Monday her daughter brought me to the studio. Her daughter is charming. Studying English and able to commmunicate better than so many others. Because she's intersted and so motivated.

Anyway, at the studio, the daughter introduced me to the teacher. The guy speaks some English. Then the daughter left. I talked with the teacher for a couple of minutes. We agreed that I'd just watch. He gave me a couple of cups of some nice Chinese tea.

The studio is fairly big but even at 9am on a Monday morning, there were lots of people there. This teacher is called "Master". I wonder what he has done to be called this. Maybe his long hair and that "Chinese style" beard helps. Plus he's been to India for study under some really accomplished ... Master? The guy does amazing things with his body. Incredible. I don't mean to be cynical, really.

The guy seems really adept. Nimble, flexible, and wow. But right away I noticed he didn't say anything to any of his students. Never once in the 45 or so minutes that I sat there did I see him touch anyone to nudge them into the posture better, I never noticed him say anything to any one individual. I felt that I could get the same thing from a DVD.

I had told the first yoga teacher (the Korean style yoga) that I'd go that very Monday morning. At 11:30. But by 9:30 I'd decided to just buy a DVD. And since I'd recently been shopping for a jacket on eBay, I knew how cheap things are on eBay. And that you can buy an enormous variety of things. So I looked on eBay that day.

But then how do you decide what kind of yoga? I looked around a bit and decided I was interested in Kundalini. So I looked on eBay for Kundalini DVDs. There's this lady named Gurmukh. I read a bunch of the reviews and most are positive. Some really really like her routine while others really don't. I read enough of the reviews to decide that I'm really interested. One of the reviewers also recommended another teacher. So I've decided on these two Kundalini yoga DVDs.

I'll save so much money this way over going to a teacher. And I expect to get much much more out of it. Because I'll understand the language! I was in the back of the room watching the teacher and many of the students. Those in the back probably get less from their routine than they can get from a DVD. This teacher didn't give anyone any individual attention. You listen to the teacher, and watch what he does, copy him as best as you can, don't push too much, don't do what you know you shouldn't do.

How is this any different from using a DVD? You can talk with the teacher before and after, and, I suppose, perhaps during the class too. But nobody spoke at all. Of course, you get the energy and serenity of being with a group of people doing something similar. Great. Plus, doing it at home, it might be real easy to find excuses for not doing it. Whereas if you've paid and commited yourself to a class, then you're more likely to go.

Nevertheless, I have decided that for me, in my situation, it's better for me to use a DVD. I'm still interested in this Korean style yoga. Can there really be such a thing?! I may go sometime before my year here is up.

I can't buy the DVDs just yet because I can't use the pay service yet. Soon, I hope. Don't understand what's going on with the pay service.

All right, this was a long one.
Troy.

HIYA!

This is turning out to be topical, isn't it? Never mind. Read on.

I was looking around the neighbordhood at a place just across the road. There's a vacant lot. Weeds. So I thought maybe I could grow some vegetables there. I asked my boss about it and he said I could just go and start working the land. He said if it's public land then there would be no problem. I wouldn't need to pay any money or get permission! He didn't think anyone would care. I was shocked. So I asked a friend at the temple. She thought about it good and answered that she agreed with my boss! Shocking. Well, I wasn't convinced. I wanted to ask someone in the local government. Don't need to see the inside of a jail. I'm not so interested.

But then there was one day that the landlord, my boss, and I were together just outside the apartment so I asked my boss if he knew who owned the land. They said I could just use the small sliver of land just next to the apartment. I decided it was fine. Really small. A tiny sliver. But I'm happy to use it. The landlady said they've never used chemicals. Or, I'm not sure now, what they've never used. But I'll just use it.

So the next day I started in with a shovel. It's actually quite loose and friable already. But I just have this idea in my head that soil should be mechanically made soft and loose. So I dug it up. Glad I did actually because I found lots of rocks that are too big to be so close to the surface. Too many too big too close. Lots of garbage too like plastic and cement.

After digging I covered the soil with dead grasses and weeds from the neighborhood. There are lots of gardens around but since I doubt that any are organic I didn't want to ask anyone if I could use the dead plants from previous harvests that they really just toss aside. Why in hell don't they see the value of strewing them on the soil? So many good reasons. The weeds and grasses I got for the most part don't have seeds. Except for the wormwood. I'd be pleased to have lots of little wormwood plants growing in the garden. Why do people go buy wormwood at the market when it grows so easily?

Well, I've got the garden mostly dug and mulched. My friends at the temple have given me some seeds. A kind of mallow, Japanese radish (daikon, giant radish), and Chinese cabbage. I'm happy to plant these but they've given me more seeds than I expect to plant. These mixed with lots and lots of local plants. Like the wormwood. Plus plants that I've known from the US and Thailand. I imagine a beautiful garden. Green, lush, full, thriving. And very unconventional. I hope to have it the way I want it sometime next year. I walk around and see the plants I'm wanting in my garden already blooming. That means the plants are going to die. I don't see nearly as many in the younger stages. So I wonder if most of the wild plants that I want in the garden are not winter plants. I don't know what grows here in winter. But I also wonder if, given water, the seeds of these wild plants will grow in my garden. The seeds are there. Purslane, wormowood, and others, dandelion, and others that I have no name for.

The garden, which isn't yet a garden, really, has gone from a place of dry, hard dirt, with nearly no insect life at all, to a moist, insect-rich place that has potential. I've laid stepping stones. This way I won't step on things I want to eat. And won't step on insects that are down there. I'll just step on insects that are beneath the stepping stones!

I've been waiting on this liquid fertilizer. I thought it'd be really easy to find but nobody knows of the stuff. Almost nobody. Anyway, I haven't been able to find it and might have to settle for more typical organic fertilizer. But the stuff I was introduced to today has to be dug in with the topsoil. I don't want to dig any more. I've made the soil loose and friable. I just want to add some nutrient. I don't know how much there might already be in the soil. But I feel certain it's not as rich as it could be.

I'll finish some other things I want to get done right away. And Dong-u (a friend) will call around a little to see if he can find this liquid fertilizer. If there's nothing around I'll just plant. In Thailand, you apply the fertilizer a week or so before planting. So I don't want to sow and plant seeds, then water with this liquid fertilizer. I've seen plants die (in Thailand) because the liquid fertilizer was too much for the young plants.

Enough.
Troy.

HIYA!

So, yeah, my boss is one. But I meet lots of people who are wonderful to me. I'll tell of some people who have not been wonderful at all. My next door neighbors. We've never met. I've said hi to them several times, politely, in Korean, and a "hello" in English. But they never respond, never acknowledge me, never make eye contact, never show any outward sign that I exist. I'm surprised, really, that they don't at the very least, bow their heads a little as an acknowledgement that I've greeted them and that they've heard me and know that I'm somewhere in their general vicinity! But, hey, never mind. I don't take it personally. I don't really care that they are like this. I don't say that I understand. I might understand why they are like this, but my understanding may be a misunderstanding! No, I'm fine. I'm only writing about them to give balance. And there are others who are not all smiley face and nice and everything. It's just that the majority are.

The landlady brought down some holiday food after coming back from visiting relatives. She knows I'm vegetarian so the only "non-vegetarian" food she brought down was fish! I unknowingly at one piece of this stuff that didn't look like fish. While eating it I suspected that it might be so I looked at the other piece ... sure enough. It was good but I don't feel like I want to go running out to look for fish food. It was no big deal. She brought two big pumpkins from the visit, and gave me one! Nice.

Today, a guy I met a week or two ago drove me around to do some things I've wanted to do. He took me to a place that another friend recommended. I want to get some liquid fertilizer like I knew in Thailand. The method originated here in Korea. The guy's name is Dong-u. He drove me to this incredibly isolated place. Took a long time to find it. When we got there a lady was really really helpful. They have a product I could have bought. But it's in powder form and would need to be mixed in with the soil. I want a liquid that I can pour on. I gave this lady some information about the Korean Natural Farming Association, which pioneered this liquid fertilizer but she couldn't contact anyone. Before we left, another lady brought in several long long cucumbers and some kind of squash and gave them to me. These were grown with the fertilizer that they sell. She just gave them to me. Wow.

The people at the temple, I won't even go into it. They're so good to me.

And my boss, he's good to me, really good. But I can see that part of his motivation may very well be that I'm an employee. He should get along with employees. I do feel that he's going way beyond what's necessary to build a positive working relationship but I don't complain. We agree that our relationship isn't just about money. But it's about respect and yakity yak. I really feel comfortable around him. But I can see some really negative things his personality and his behavior. For some reason though, I am comfortable with him.

Enough of this.

HIYA!

My address:

Troy Santos
Jeju City
Samyang 1-dong 1589-9
690-071
KOREA

My phone number:

001-82-64-900-8877

001 is the international operator. 82 is South Korea's country code. 64 is the area code for Jeju Island. And the rest is my phone number. Since I've got a 900 # make sure you dial the other numbers first or you'll have to pay someone for some service!!

Now nobody has any excuse for not sending me cases and cases of "natural" peanut butter and other such goodies! Or, for that matter, giving me a call once in a while. My boss gave me a telephone. I don't expect to buy a cell phone. If you've got access to a computer and can get Skype downloaded onto it I can call you for free. Absolutely free. You can call me for free if you pay a set fee for unlimited use. That's what I've got. About US$22 per month. Not bad.

Troy.

Troy.

HIYA!

Having a blog on a traveller's site seems a bit odd since I'm not travelling. But on the other hand, this can be considered travelling since I'm not living in my home country. Anyway, I don't expect to change.

I went to the Seon temple again yesterday. There was supposed to be a guy there who'd interpret the Dhamma Talk for me. I got there at 10 am. The ceremony started about 10:30. People were chanting and ringing some wooden knocker with a wooden stick. They did their prostrations. I didn't do any of it as I didn't know what to do, but more importantly, I didn't feel like doing it. I didn't feel like prostrating before 3 big Buddha statues and hundreds of smaller ones. I don't know how the others felt about me not participating, but, if they didn't like it, that's for them to deal with. Afterwards, the several people who made some communication with me were hospitable and nice.

The monk came in about 11:00 I guess to give the Dhamma Talk. But the guy who'd interpret never showed up. So I sat and meditated some, opened my eyes to look around some, and, of course, thought about this and thought about that, and everything else that you don't want to think about while "meditating". But I was okay. No problem. I guess the monk talked for about an hour. Maybe a bit less. At the end he said something to me. I think I understood one word. I think he said "Korean language" in Korean. I just laughed.

Then one lady approached me and spoke with me. She speaks decent enough English so we talked. Most of the 15 or 20 people who attended then went to a dining hall for lunch.

Vegan I'm happy to say. Every single thing they had lined up was cooked but it all tasted good just the same. Vegetarian kimchi too. Nice. Probably organic as well. The lady told me that all the food was organic and grown there at the temple. I doubt the rice was grown there but never mind. I suppose she means the vegetables and maybe the sesame.

While having lunch I got the names and locations for two vegetarian restaurants. Great. I'll go sooner rather than later.
I also want to look into getting some of this kimchi from the restaurant so I can start up a batch myself. I want to eat kimchi often. They say it's really good for your health. The taste is okay. Not great but not at all bad.

After lunch the lady said we could go to talk with the monk. Just the three of us. We talked for a couple of minutes then a few others came in. One lady came to make the tea for us all. Green tea. Good good quality stuff. And the others came I guess just to hear the words of wisdom from the monk, or, I don't know. None of them asked any questions or anything. They chimed in a couple of times during the talk I had with the monk.

The monk doesn't speak more than a few words in English so an interpreter was essential. The lady's English isn't great, but good enough for me to understand most of what the monk said. But how would I know if she interpreted him wrong anyway?!

He spoke in words like I have read from numerous books on Zen. So I enjoyed listening to him / her. Or maybe I should say however, instead of so!! I mean, he kept asking me what my fist is. He must have asked ten times in the space of a few minutes. He kept telling me no, no. Don't think. Just answer. Don't think. Just answer.

He eventually got away from asking so frequently but still peppered me a few times after the initial burst.

He told me to say to myself all through the day, every day, "What is?" Don't answer the question with thought. Just ask.

So that's what I've been doing a lot today and yesterday. Of course I don't always remember, but more often than ever I've been able to keep some awareness on this question. And of course, don't think about the question, nor about the answer, nor about the asking. Just, whatever I do, ask the question. Bizarre practice. But this is what I've understood from some Zen books I've read. So, it's neat to get to a temple and get just such instruction.

The monk gave me the bag of tea we had been drinking from. Good stuff from Japan.

I'll go again next Sunday. The lady who interpreted for me has been going nearly every Sunday for about 10 years. Wow.

Troy.