I've had a very good, very productive weekend. On Friday night when everyone was swimming in beer and hanging out, I was hanging tough, trying to figure out this business concept. It was the third day in a row that I was trying to wrap my brain around this fairly amorphous idea. And I needed to nail it down in a simple, unambiguous, but profound way.
Remember I said it was like trying to summarize the Bible in one sentence. I got a fantastic night's sleep, the best in weeks, and woke up Saterday morning at about 7am, feeling very clear. And in about two hours I'd finished my Motivation, and all the other details. I sent that off, and will probably send two more to two other important contacts. Even if nothing comes from it, I'm glad I got it done.
Saturday was such a beautiful day that I had to spend it outdoors. After getting gift vouchers from a private Corneli teaches (for Burger King) we headed there for lunch. McDonalds cleverly distracted passersby from Burger King's opening by staging their own party.
At 2pm, I got dressed and got my wife...er...my bike...off the trainer. David was available so we headed out together. He even brought his camera along, so I you can see what the countryside is like between Paju and Munsan (see below).
What was good about the trip on Sunday was seeing some traditional Korean stuff. I think the worst way to live in a foreign country is to never mix with the locals, to never eat the local food, to never go and see what makes the country unique. I haven't done these things for a while, so it was good to sit on the mountain and look over the quiet countryside and feel it. Feel what inspired building this oldest temple in this peaceful scenery. Feel the lightness, the decorative natural beauty - leaves and light. And these wooden structures that fit into the hillside.
You see this, you eat the food, and when you walk a path with a monk who shows you flowers and berries and sits quietly with you, sipping tea...something happens. You start to take everything in again. You connect, you take a deep breath and you can feel and hear nature's breath on your arm and on your face. You find yourself relaxing, and starting to flow.
When I was swimming this evening I thought, "What defines the last six months in Korea?" I think this year is different to the previous three because I dedicated myself so fully to writing, and investigative journalism and research. That's been a successful and worthwhile investment, not least because it's allowed me to make some extra money and there's a good chance I'll have the option of taking an editorial job for a magazine when I return. Even if I don't, I can continue submitting material and getting paid for it, which is such a nice way of living your life, because it means you can live anywhere, so long as you're writing.
Before I arrived back in Korea this year I was dreading a repeat of the loneliness that had snuck up on me towards the end of my third year here. I got pretty lonely. I don't mean just not being with people. It's easy in Korea to surround yourself with people who also want to be surrounded by other people. Sometimes that works. It doesn't work for me much any more. When I'm with other people I realise they're pretty different from me, and we're interested in very different things. I'm trying to make something of my life, so I am more serious about that, than it seems many people here are.
I think loneliness is when you feel you're not surrounded by people who really love and care for you. And you don't understand them and they don't get you. I've found that - people who listen - difficult to find in a consistent way in this country. I don't feel like many people here want to, or are willing to listen to other people. Everyone just seems to want to talk, and no one seems to listen. A lot of people don't even make eye-contact with you. Their eyes sweep around the place, like they're waiting for a bus to come around the corner.
So my favourite part of the week is Sunday night, when I call my girlfriend in South Africa, and we talk for about 2 hours straight.
I think home is where the heart is.
What Are You Thingamajig?
This creature was really captivating. The size of my thumb, with a velvetty rump...almost feathery, almost furry. Probably the mossy body a kind of moth. But big enough to be a hummingbird. Had a long proboscis which it dipped over and over into these flowers, like it was drinking peach juice. I could get the camera so close to it that the flowers behind it were in focus, and it was too close to the camera for the camera to 'see' it. It's really remarkable seeing a creature like this that you've never seen before. You don't even know what it is. I'll try Google, but where to start?
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