Friends and Menthol

This last weekend, my good friend's sister came to visit me with a friend.  It was really good to see them and it was a great time.  I had fun showing off my newly cleaned and sparkling apartment and the rest of my fine city.  Even though the day was quite hot and sticky, we did some walking and shopping and exploring of the markets of Daegu.  For dinner, we dined on chicken and beer while sitting on the roof of my apartment and then juggled oranges and discussed a new invention in selling clothing.  After a trip to the bars to play some foosball, air hockey, and darts we wandered into Urban and we were lucky enough to witness a magic show and a Korean boy band dance off.  Good ending to the night.

While shopping we came across a shirt that baffled all of us...  One I opted not to buy because of the 16,000 won price tag, but I am now truly regretting it.  Three days later and I am still puzzling over it's possible meaning.  I share it with you now and if you figure it out..... TELL ME!!!!

A Promise and Palgongsan

The Promise

I have not been on here very much lately.  For the past month or three I have been dealing with some stuff that has been difficult and has made writing fairly low on my list of priorities.  But, the sun is stating to peek through and I am working to get back to focusing this journey on myself.  I came here to learn who I am and what I want.  In the first few months, I was really making strides in that department and then I got caught up in the drama and stresses the world inevitably throws in your path.  With the help of some of the best friends in the world (thank you, Jess and Kim!) and a lot of nights alone thinking about where my life is going, I have finally begun to organize the options I can consider possibilities and the ones that are simply wet dreams.

So.  My back-on-track, looking-forwards plan and promise to myself, and to others, is as follows:

1. Get back to focusing on me and no one else.
2. Get back to the working-out-regularly, healthy-eating, rarely-drinking life I was leading before I got here.
3. Make this rooftop garden work this summer.
4. Edit and write 4 more chapters in my novel and at least 20 new poems.
5. Fill my sketch book.
6. Get outside for an hour each day, even if it is just to read on my rooftop.
7. Read the books I have been meaning to read.
8. Work on my Korean a bit more.
9. Make a list of places I want to visit in Korea still and go to them.
10. See more plays.
11. Go to mudfest.
12. Make a list of places I want to see on my way back from Korea and plan the trip out.
13. Write in my journal at least twice a week, hopefully more.
14. Write on here more regularly, at least once a week as well.
15. Watch more documentaries, listen to more podcasts, and read more news.

So, those are the promises.  The most important promise I am making is only for me, and I will keep to myself.  Before I do any of these things though, I need to get my apartment in order and cleaned up.

Palgongsan

Yesterday, Dana and I bused ourselves out to Palgongsan and climbed our way up to one of the peaks. It took us about four hours to get to the top and about an hour to get back down.  When I woke up this morning, every muscle in my body was on fire and I could barely walk.  But the hike to the top was amazing and liberating and served as a little test to myself.  I let go of everything that has been bothering me and bringing me down on the way up.  When I get around the last stone and looked out from the top, I remembered why I came here in the first place.  I just let the negatives go, it was quite flower-child-like if I do say so myself. Coming back down the mountain, I felt refreshed.  Well, lets be honest, I felt dead tired and sore.  Emotionally,  I felt better then I have for a long time.  And I got to stop at a temple on the way down and pet the first cat I have touched in six months.  Total mood booster. I took lots of pictures on the way up and down, some artistic, some just pictures.  Have a look, and I will write again soon, I promise.