MUDFEST 2012

Every July in Korea, there is an annual Mud festival held at Boreyang beach in Daechun. Knowing that this is a huge event in South Korea, my friends and I put in reservations almost two months ahead of time.  Although it seemed like we were anticipating this weekend for so long, it came and went faster than I could have imagined.  I think, from what I had heard and read about it before actually attending, I could say that it lived up to its name. After all, we did get muddy.

Friday, July 14. We all sat in our classrooms for the day, anticipating the journey ahead of us; a two and a half hour bus ride that would finally land us at a rough and rowdy little gathering of muddy drunken waygooks. The day passed slowly, but soon enough, about 14 of us all piled into a guide bus, destination: mud fest. Of course, drinking in Korea is pretty much allowed everywhere, so it should not come as a shock that we all got on the bus completely prepared for a circus bus ride consisting of soju mixers and giant bottles of Cass. Our bus departed from Seoul around 9:45PM and we were expected to arrive around 12/12:30AM.  The bus ride itself was an absolute wreck, although, perhaps a good precursor to the actual festival.  Some bus ride characteristics: everyone standing for most of the trip, the boys drinking too much and crying about not being able to hold their pee (needless to say, I do believe some bottles got emptied and then filled back up),  sharing music, sharing jokes, laughing until we could not breathe.

Upon arriving in Daechun, everyone was nice and toasted.  We had reserved one room for all of us prior to arriving, so about eleven of us bunked up in one room.  The thing about Korea, however, is that most hostels or pensions do not usually have beds. Instead, everyone just stretches out and sleeps in very close quarters on the floor.  We all walked in, set down our belongings, spread blankets and pillows, and set up our room so that we would all be able to leave, come back at who knows what hour and then pass out where we landed. Everyone first made a journey across the street to stock up on more beverages before making our way to the beach.  We had to wait until the following afternoon to actually participate in the mud festivities, so we figured no bed time was important. 

Luckily our pension was literally just across the street from the beach.  As we walked onto the sand, Kimberly and I made our way straight for the water, because after all, there is nothing better than dipping your feet in the ocean at night.  In fact, however, there is something better… dipping your feet in the ocean in Korea late at night.  I could tell that Kim and I were feeling the same way.  The water was absolutely heavenly: not too cold, clear, clean, silent.  At that moment, we both just stood, taking in our breath that seemed to run away with the vast outspread of water before us and the crashing waves at our feet. What an amazing feeling.  We both looked at each other and I could see that Kimberly was crying.  When she hugged me and told me she loved me and was glad she could share the experience with me, I knew that her tears were happy and not at all sad.  Something about moments like that just seem to make you feel full. Not full like your belly is about to burst, but full like your heart will.  Moments like that, when you realize the altitude and the greatness of what you are experiencing… it’s completely irreplaceable.  Just when I wondered if it could get better, someone suggested charging into the ocean fully clothed.  In my head, of course, I knew that I did not have my swim suits on and I was wearing my only pair of jean shorts for the weekend, but you know, sometimes you just do things simply because you’re alive and you can.  Every so often you just have to dive in the deep end, step outside the box, and do something to rejuvenate the soul.  For me, these moments are what I live for, so on the count of three, 5 of us went charging into the ocean with our clothes on and fell right into the crashing waves. We all stood up screaming and playing together in the water and having chicken fights. When I was through, I walked back to shore, stretched my hands up to the sky, and just twirled about in the sand, running the tips of my feet along the ripples and sand.  I felt so alive, so grateful, and so free.  I had my moment of freedom, spontaneity, and appreciation.

We made our way back to the pension around about 3 or 4 am, soaking wet, covered in sand, and pretty much destroyed our sleeping quarters for that night, and the next.  Of course things did not settle when we got back to the room, we had to have been up for an extra hour laughing uncontrollably and behaving like a bunch or rambunctious ten year olds.  When we did fall asleep, it was something of a giant sardine slumber party.  Squished together, we all knocked out pretty quickly. The next day, I woke up before everyone else around 7AM, so I decided to take my headphones and go for a stroll on the beach.  When I got back only a half hour later, Mehdi had everyone awake, due to the fact that it was his birthday, and drinking had already begun. OUT. OF. CONTROL. = the three words I often use to describe my clownish male friends in Korea.

The day started out slow, but at 2PM when everyone had eaten, drank a bit, and got all stoked for the mud, we made our way to the pits.  How can I describe this experience? I’m not sure I can, to be honest.  It’s definitely a, “you have to be there” type of festival. As we ventured into the mud pits, people just went HAM attacking one another with mud.  It did not matter if you knew the person who you were attacking or not, if they looked clean in any way, or were showing their skin in anyway, they instantly got smothered with mud. As soon as we walked in, some guys I did not even know, just took a handful of mud to my face, as they laughed and joked that I was too clean.  The festival was complete with mud slides, mud wrestling pits, army crawls, paint buckets, and LONG LONG lines.  It was raining, so the festival was a muddy, sloppy, goo infested trench.  They say not to bring valuables to the festival because most people lose or destroy things, but I bought a waterproof case and took some good pictures.  There was no way I was going to let this weekend go by undocumented.  The rest of the day was spent playing in the mud, making new friends, eating moving octopus, and playing on the beach. At night, everyone cleaned up, got some food, and ended up drinking in the room.  The rain was good for the mud portion of the festival, but it put somewhat of a damper on us leaving the room at night. 

Saturday night, Grace went home, I did not drink, Kim drank too much, and Holly was suffering from uncontrollable bug bites.  Needless to say, we all called it a night a bit earlier than the guys.  Surely, that was an ignorant idea, since we were woken by their drunken stooper at an unreasonable hour.  Of course James made his way into the room and started rolling around on top of us, all wet and disgusting, while Mehdi did his slurring wake up call.  Oddly enough, it was too funny to be mad and pretty hard not to laugh. 

Eventually, everyone knocked out on Saturday night, and what happened after that is unclear, but it’s like Vegas, what happens at Mud fest, stays at Mud fest!  All I know is that when I looked at my weekend pictures the next day, it looked like the Hangover part III.  So what happens when you ship eleven native English teachers, stressed from a long work week, off to a sloppy mud festival? Things tend to get a little crazy.  But hey, every once in a while, it's okay to be young and crazy... and sometimes, it's exactly what you need.

 A fairly decent depiction of what the bus ride there was like.

 Kimber & Gracie Louuuu<3 love this picture of them.

 Everyone cuddled up close in our bedroom!

 HAHAHA. I love this picture! James' face in the top corner, hahaha.

 Me, Kim, & Grace

 Muddy Me... this isn't even bad yet...

 Alissa, Erin and I... muddy messes!

 The craziness... the crowd of muddy people is never ending.

 This guy was pretty funny, although, I do not know him.

Everyone! :))

Exploring Dreams

Seoul is such a unique city... third largest in the world, with a cosmopolitan feel, outlined by incredible mountains on all sides.  It's a city that values time, architecture, fashion, and culture.  One of the things that amazes me most about Seoul is that, although it is such a modern metropolitan city, it has the true Korean culture embedded deep in it's bones.  Anywhere you go in Seoul, you are sure to find both the modern dining restaurants, as well as traditional Korean dining.  The king's old historic temples sit preserved next to sky scrappers and the hustle and bustle of a busy city work day.  You see men scurrying to work in business suits, as well as old women balancing large pots on their heads walking down the clustered morning streets.  I love living in Seoul because I have the opportunity to live in the big city, but if I travel just 40 minutes one way or the other, I can climb to the top of the tallest mountains and get a peaceful look from afar.  The things I love so much about this city often send me trudging out into the streets on random explorations.  Here, I am always looking for what's around the next corner... a mountain, a beautifully light night stream, an old traditional village, a beautiful park, or an intense shopping district. 

Last week, one afternoon after school, I decided to grab my backpack and my camera and go wandering in a direction I had not yet taken.  I grabbed all my belongings and off I went through city streets, up and down stairs, across a river, and finally to a point where I was once again reminded of why I love Seoul so much.  What I came across was a beautiful park called, Dream Forest.... a name that I felt signified exactly what I had gone in search of that afternoon.  With eagerness I made my way towards what looked like rolling green fields filled with walk ways, bridges, and some small cafes.  What I found was far superior.  Walking through Dream Forest is surely something of a dream.  Perhaps it is not the dreams that we usually remember once we awaken from a deep slumber, but instead the dreams we think about and see in movies.  A dream where you are in a beautiful place and maybe what some of us expect our heavens to look like.  I walked through swindling paths, surrounded by green grass, and a sky that was confused about whether or not to let out the sun or confine it with the clouds.  The paths I chose took me to different wonders within the forest.  One path took me into a small traditional village that had been preserved and behind it, I found what I would call a miniature bamboo forest. I found a wooded area that had large modern streams running between and around the trees.  A large field sat open and welcomed everyone passing to sit and soak in the natural surroundings. I took another path and made my way to an enormous pond, which was surrounded by a variety of plants. The pond, itself,  was spewing water from five large fountains.  The fountains reached up to the clouds and with a slight breeze, it was just enough to feel a light mist touching your skin.  Looking to the left of the pond, there was a rock encrusted waterfall and a small traditional pavilion.  A path running along the top of the water was made to look somewhat like a floating maze and I watched as people walked down it hand in hand or carrying small sun umbrellas. What I enjoyed most about this spot, was seeing everyone taking advantage of it.  The area was not crowded by any means, but all the people that I saw seemed to be enjoying the space as much as I did.  I looked around and saw other people with their cameras, or just sitting on a bench with the same look of contentment that I knew was evident in my own facial expression.  Here, I thought, this must be what peace feels like.  My mind was absolutely taken back.  Another random exploration proves a success in Korea. Below are the pictures.  This is a place that I'm really glad I was able to capture.

Seoul Time Lapse

Seoul.<3 I live here. It is amazing.

Lunches with Grammy

Before I came to Korea, I had just graduated college.  I knew I wanted to be a teacher. It is my passion and my priority above all other things.  When you are in college you are focused on getting your degree, getting good grades, learning, and having fun.  Yes, you know you are preparing for your future beyond college, but how much of our college career do we really spend thinking and planning for exactly what comes after you walk across that stage on the day of graduation. You got the grades, you know the career path you chose, but it's not just a job after college, it's your life, and your future. 

I realized during my senior year of college that I wanted to do something different.  I had this urge in me to go somewhere, do something big, or experience something different.  I looked into a few programs that gave me the option to move somewhere else to teach and played around with a lot of different ideas.  It wasn't until I actually graduated, however, that my urge to do something different really turned into more of a strong pull. I'm not sure anyone really understood my desire to go away, and many people fought me on it. However, most of them knew that I had a strong mind and that it was senseless to talk me out of it. My desire to go away was strong and bold and I was not giving up on the idea. Moving away was not because I wanted to be away from everyone, but more because I wanted to find myself and make my life purposeful and worthwhile.

Something I always enjoyed at home, during and after college, was having lunch with my Grandma.  When I was young I always looked forward to going to grandma's house, eating toast and jelly with cereal in the mornings, going to the YMCA with her, decorating her christmas tree, picking strawberries in the garden, and playing in the yard.  When you are young, your parents take you to grandma's house to do these things.  When you are older, however, it becomes more of your own responsibility to make time with her.  As I got older, I really valued my personal time with my grandmother, regardless of how seldom or often we had time to spend together.  We would go to olive garden and sit and talk over a nice lunch and usually a delicious chocolate dessert of our choice and some coffee.  It was during these times that I was really able to listen to her talk about her life and her past and really truly cherish the memories she would share with me.  It was during these times that I realized, I was not the first in the family to have a strong minded will to do what I wanted and do something different.  It was during these times that I realized that I got my strong heart and my passion from her.  She may not have up and moved to the other side of the world, but she ran away for love because she knew it was right for her.  She was the first in her family to go to and graduate from college during a time when women did not even go to college. She has made it a point to travel and see different parts of the world, and she has a heart that gives love regardless of circumstance. 

And so, I came to Korea with my grandmother's heart, because I think we share the same heart in ways.  Every day I am here, I wish that I could share things with her and I know that she is proud of me. I make it a point every weekend to go to a cafe and have some "me" time.  I often think that my grandmother would really love how beauitful the cafes are in Korea, and sometimes I think about how nice it would be to share lunch, chocolate dessert, and coffee with her here as well.  Last weekend, as I sat in a cafe in Itaewon, all of these things came to mind.  As I sat looking out the window and thinking about her, the song, "The Rose," came on, which was the song my sister sang for my grandmother and grandfather at their 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a strange coincidence or an act of fate... or maybe God's way of telling me that Grandma, even though back home, is in my heart here always.  So this update is dedicated to my beautiful Grandma Galloway. I love you, miss you, and think about you often! You are my hero. Come to Korea and have lunch with me at some of these beautiful cafes! :)

"MAY (you have many adventures.)"

Seoul tends to give me this feeling of utter bliss every once in a while.  I feel happy here all the time, but there are also days where it just exceeds happiness and I just feel pure goodness.  I don't know how else to explain the feeling. They say when you smile while alone, that's when you really mean it... you are truly happy.  I am truly happy.

May was a low key month for me, yet still wonderful regardless.  I have seen myself start to break away from people and I don't think it's for any given reason, other than the fact that I am really coming into my own here.  I honestly enjoy my alone time because it leaves me without restrictions.  If I go out exploring or wandering on my own, my mind and feet can take me wherever they wander.  It's often these times when I feel the most free. I enjoy my time sitting in cafes blogging (as I am now) or reading with an iced latte.  I am happy with what I do with myself and my time because I find it plenty fulfilling.  I go to boxing three times a week, teach five days a week, and explore (and sometimes party) on the weekends.  Sunday's are always my catch up days to lesson plan, clean, and do laundry.  I have continued to build good relationships with my Korean friends and my other foreign friends.... and so, I feel good.

May is Buddah's birthday, which is a national holiday in Korea.  There is a big festival with a parade, lantern festival, a lot of fun cultural things to experience, and a nice three day weekend! I attended the night parade with some of my girlfriends and then the day festival the following Sunday. The parade was the longest and most incredible parade I have ever seen.  Countless people marched through the streets with lanterns glowing in hues of orange, pink, red, purple, blue, and white. After the parade, there was a big concert where they released confetti into the night sky while the music played and people danced and frolicked .  It was actually incredible. Falling confetti has always had this strange affect of making me feel both lighthearted and invincible. The following day I spent the morning in Sinsa alone reading a book at a cafe, having lunch, and wondering around my favorite area of Seoul with my camera trying to capture everything. Later, after I had my fill of some "me time," I met Kimberly, Aileen, and Breanne at the Buddah festival.  We wandered around for hours, going to various tents, listening to, seeing, and trying some real Korean culture.  It was there, I planted a seed to cultivate happiness and I tied a prayer for my family and friends to an enormous balloon.  The balloon was swaying in the breeze while hundreds of people wrote prayers and wishes and tied them to the dangling strings. They would later be released into the sky.  I wrote my prayer and tied  it on. Something about this made me feel so complete and fulfilled. After the festival, we ended the night at a very unique traveling wine bar.  We all shared a bottle of wine and had some nice girl talk.  What a wonderful way to end a Sunday. A simple Sunday, and still, probably one of the best days I've had because it was filled with personal time, time shared with friends, unique cultural experiences, good conversation, and good places.

Basking in the falling confetti. Photo credit: Kimberly. ^^

This is my fan, hand painted, with my name written in Hangeul on it.

 Aileen dressed in traditional Korean clothing called Hanbok. 

Planting a seed for happiness.

My prayer for my friends, my parents, my siblings, and my grandparents. 

 Folding up my prayer and kissing it before I tie it up to the balloon string.

 Tying my prayer onto the balloon.

The hundreds of prayers and wishes attached to the giant balloon.

Wine bar with the girls.

Last weekend I went away to visit the East Sea at a beach called Sokcho.  It was a nice little getaway with my friends Kim and Grace.  I had my first jimbjilbang experience... which was quite interesting and yet, not as  strange as I thought it would be.  A jimbjilbang is like a spa but it is nothing like a spa in the US.  It's literal translation is "public bathhouse."  Basically, you pay 8,000 won, to shower in a public shower room, and sit in hot spas naked with other women. Then you can pay extra to get a body scrub and massage (which I did!). The body scrub experience was somewhat weird, as you literally just lay naked on a table in the middle of the room while an old lady scrubs all the dead skin off your body and then oils you up. After you are all clean, everyone finds a spot on the floor in the common room to sleep with a mat. Basically, it's a cheap alternative to staying in a hotel or hostel.  If you feel comfortable enough to be in a room naked with other woman and you don't mind sleeping on the floor surrounded by strangers, then it's something you may actually enjoy.  It sounds strange but it is something that's very popular in Korean culture.  At first, I thought being naked in front of everyone was weird but once you get past the initial shock, the awkwardness just somewhat fades away.  The fact that Korean women stare at you because you look different... well that's still a bit strange. Our last day Sokcho, some of our other friends from Seoul ended up coming out and meeting up with us.  Grace, Kim, and I went on a speed boat ride.  They literally just picked us up off the beach and took us for a fast and exhilarating spin! On Saturday night, me, Kim, Grace, James, and James rented these mini motorized bikes and had a blast driving around the bay for an hour.  It was such a random spur of the moment idea, but it seems in these moments you tend to have the most fun.  We rode around laughing and  driving off sidewalks and over hills and drag racing like we were five years old.  What a wonderful feeling is it to do things like this that make you feel young again. Sokcho= SUCCESS!

Motorized minibikes in Sokcho!

On the beach with the girls! <3

Grace, Kim and I came back to Seoul early on Sunday, although our friends spent the day on the beach there.  On Monday, I was lucky enough to have my first horseback riding experience in Korea.  I was convinced that I would have to spend a year away from horses, as it is a very uncommon thing in Korea.  However, my good friend Eunhee, has a special connection to the KRA facilities because her cousin is a jockey trainer.  The first horse I touched, I spent a good five minutes just standing at his stall stroking his face and coming quite close to tears.  It felt so good to be in a barn again and feeling a connection that I have missed very much.  The horse I rode was a big handsome thoroughbred who went by the name JaeJae.  He was amazing with a big stride but a comfortable ride, still.  I was able to ride around for about an hour and I just basked in how great it felt to be back in the saddle.  I was so happy to see how well taken care of the horses were. It was this day that I also made a great new friend.  Eunhea has a cousin who is the same age as me.  His name is AhnSung and he came along to the barn with us... and took pictures for me! He speaks English fairly well and I enjoy talking to him.  After riding, he and I ventured off into the city of Ilsan to have coffee and hang out together while everyone else stayed behind.  I had a really great day with him, drinking coffee, having ice cream, shooting Airsoft guns, and talking.   I am so glad to have made another new Korean friend.

He had such a beautiful face and spirit. I just wanted to capture the feeling shown in his eyes.

Handsome baby boy :)

 AhnSung and I at the horse farm!

AhnSung kicked my butt at shooting. His score 1400, my score 140... FAIL.

Me and JaeJae<3

Yesterday I spent the day with my Kimberly, which I always enjoy.  We went to Myeong-dong and went shopping, went to a dog cafe, and went out to Hongdae later at night. I have never experienced an animal cafe in the states, but they are very common here.  You pay 8,000 won to go in, get a table, and a drink of choice.  The dogs just walk around freely and play.  They give you a menu with all the dogs' names and you can just enjoy your drink and have some quality pet therapy time. It was such a fun experience. I had a little dog curled up in my lap and taking a nap while I sat and drank my coffee. It's nice to know that when you just want some animal time, you can go to a cafe for a small fee and get your fill.

Kimberly and her Puggggyy

Indigo!

Sleepy boys<3

...and so May has ended, and it was filled with many adventures, new experiences, good feelings, and good friends... let June commence!