A Quick Last Trip to Daegu

July 26^th, 2011

Because I assigned the students to do several things outside of class time (and they're in vacation mode) I had written in this day as a day off of class. So I headed out in the morning for Daegu—carrying a heavy tub of things to leave at Jinhong and Georgy's house. After some lunch I headed to 신라합기도체육관 Shilla Hapkido Studio, where I trained from 4 until just after 10, then rushed back to Georgy and Jinhong's. At Hapkido all was well with the world—the kids were cute (and a bunch of yellow belts in the late afternoon decided I was a seat, so every time I sat down they rushed to sit on my legs and lean their adorable little heads trustingly against me—they were also imps that were hard to keep in control but my overall impression was cute as could be. 박형건 Bak Hyeong-geun, my little brother, arrived in the early evening and we ate dinner with the 관장님 instructor, 김유림 Kim Yurim. The workout was pretty intense and I spent a good two hours just practicing nun-chucks so I was really surprised that I wasn't totally destroyed by the end of the day, but it was fine. Jinhong, Georgy and I had a little 막걸리 makgeolli party, except Georgy doesn't actually like it. Anyway, Jinhong made a bunch of 전 jeon which was eaten with gusto.

July 27^th, 2011

I hung out with Georgy and Jinhong all morning, then stopped by my glasses place quick before Hapkido (they'll send me a new pair of prescription sunglasses to Seoul). It was a really good time at Hapkido again, I will miss everyone there, and the instructor, even though I didn't get a chance to spend much time there this year.

I took the KTX train (Georgy can get really great discounts during the week) back to Seoul and got home around 1 a.m.

Jeonju and Daegu

April 21^st, 2011

Mom and I woke up early and went to 광화문 Gwanghwamun area to catch a special free tourist bus to 전주 Jeonju. These buses, which go to 경주 Gyeongju and 부산 Busan as well, are widely advertised as a great way to get foreigners a chance to see things outside of Seoul. A lot of foreign residents in Korea pan them because you can't ride the bus in the opposite direction if you wanted to go to Seoul for a day or a few. However I think it's a pretty good idea to get people around the country if they're just visiting Korea for a short trip. There are several ways in which the system is not so good, though. First of all it's not done on a first come, first served basis. It's done on a lottery system. I entered our names a couple weeks ago and got a confirmation email. Then I waited. I didn't see any other email, so on the 20^th I got on the internet and went to the site where I entered our passport numbers and it said "reservation confirmed" and it also showed that there were (unless I was totally misunderstanding) still tickets available on the bus. But when we checked in at the site they said that we had not 'won' tickets (although every other name of every other person and the person(s) accompanying them on the list had 'won' tickets). I protested that we'd seen a confirmation email but never seen any other follow up email such as a 'sorry, you didn't win, try again' email. The young lady was apologetic and explained that she often gets people with the same complaint but there is nothing she can do; her job is just to check people in not to send emails related to the program. Fortunately some people who had 'won' seats didn't show up, so mom and I were able to get on the bus after all but it was a bit stressful and I had lots to say about how bad it made Korea look to foreign tourists if they experience something as confusing as that.

In Jeonju (and this is basically why I even decided to go) the bus took us to the 한옥 hanok village; an area of Jeonju where traditional style one story buildings made of wood with tile roofs are still common. We walked around the streets, and checked out the scenery, a couple 한지 hanji (paper) making workshop/factories and their associated gift shops, a calligraphy museum, some other craft halls and had a marvelous lunch. Overall I found the area too developed for tourism—it was a bit gross how much of it was predicated on rapidly relieving the visitors of their money. Most of the tourists, of course, were domestic, including several school groups, but I started feeling really claustrophobic and uncomfortable. The best part of the entire Jeonju experience (except for the lunch which was just the type of ordinary home-cooking I love) was our visit to the 경기전 Gyeonggijeon with a shrine for 태조 Taejo, the founder of the dynasty. The inside of Gyeonggijeon was just as run over with visitors but the area was far larger and the birds were chirping, the sun shining and the new leaves were practically unfurling as we watched.

We took a taxi to the Express Bus Terminal and took the 3:10 bus to 대구 Daegu, arriving  shortly before 6:00. We took another taxi to my 합기도 Hapkido studio and we spent the rest of the evening there until I felt that mom would turn into a pumpkin if I didn't take her to Georgy and Jinhong's and a bed. At Hapkido I led class (it was a day to focus on kicks) and had a pretty good time. It was fun that mom got see the 관장님instructor 15 years after she first met him.

April 22^nd, 2011 Earth Day

I'm afraid I didn't do anything special for Earth Day. I guess I just have to say "every day is Earth Day!" In the morning I made pancakes for the four of us. Jinhong took mom to see some things and I worked on an application while Georgy made cupcakes (I had given her a cupcake cookbook because she loves cupcakes). After a lunch that Jinhong made I went to the post office to send my application (Jinhong drove me to a print shop and the post office, so sweet), and mom and Georgy went fabrics shopping at the traditional market.

I went back to 합기도 Hapkido and stayed there until 10:45. It was a test day so I mostly helped run the test, but I got some exercise in as well. When I got back to Georgy and Jinhong's only the latter was still awake.

Hapkido Test, Songpa Sandae Noli and Angelique Kidjo Live!

March 12th, 2011
The test: went well, I think. I don't know the results yet. I was the only person testing for 4th degree (5th and above test in Seoul), there were 3 people for 3rd degree black belt, twenty-two for 2nd degree and something around fifteen for first degree black belt. Most people had a partner who was not testing as well, although a few people partnered each other on the same test. Several parents came and there were also the instructors and assistant instructors from the various studios who brought people to the test, in other words around 50 people were watching me. I was nervous as heck and my kicks were weak, but I did spectacularly well on falls (I jumped over blocks more than chest height!) and my self-defense moves were totally tight. I was not asked to spar, but neither was anyone else. I guess that has been taken off the standard testing menu.

I had lunch at the 관장님 instructor's house with his wife and kids (he was in Seoul) and then headed back to Seoul myself on the bus.

March 13th, 2011

I had 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli in the morning. We practiced Act 3 under professor 이병옥 Yi Byeong-ok repeatedly after we did the basic motions. We did it with all the stage blocking and dance motions. It was amazing how much more detailed it became when you tried to actually do the full scene. I was 목중을 Mokjung Eul again. I am managing the dialogue fairly well. Afterwards 김영숙 Kim Yeongsuk and the three college girls who are also practicing on Sundays and I went for lunch. Pretty unimpressive food today.

I bought tickets to Angelique Kidjo weeks ago, before I knew Karjam wouldn't be around to go with me. So I had to find someone else, and my first few picks (people who would already know Angelique's music) were busy. So I asked 양은석 Yang Eunseok, a 풍물 pungmul friend who I find interesting and open-minded. Also he loves live music and we've seen several other shows together. The show was beyond amazing. Especially since Angelique invited the audience onto the stage and we went up and danced for thirty minutes on the stage, with Angelique coming right over and practically bumping hips with us, dancing one on one with me—it was so awesome.

Big Lunch Meeting

March 10th, 2011
I practiced 합기도 Hapkido until 9:30, went to 동대구 Dongdaegu Station and caught a train back to Seoul. I arrived in the early morning and since the taxi line was long I decided to see if there was still a bus (although I didn't expect there to be as it was after 1 a.m.). Miracle of miracles, there was, although I had to wait 18 minutes to catch it (fortunately the bus stop sign tells me how many minutes I have to wait, the 402 was one of the only buses still running).

March 11th, 2011
I had only returned to Seoul in order to attend an important meeting I had coordinated on Friday with 엄승용Eom Seungyong from the 문화재청 Cultural Properties Administration, his staff member 김인규 Kim Ingyu, 탄종원 Tahn Jongwon from 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli, 허창열 Heo Changyeol from 고성오광대 Goseong Ogwangdae and 황민왕 Hwang Minwang from 남해안별신굿 Namhae'an Byeolshin'gut. The meeting was a little less productive than I had hoped. Partially because Korean culture kicked in with so many Koreans in the room, which meant that Changyeol who is quite vocal, normally, was suddenly quiet, and Tahn Jongwon was fairly loud because he's probably around the same age as Eom and certainly he's older than everyone else. Hwang cut in fairly often, but I ended up talking more than I had intended to. We discussed a wide variety of topics, although Eom had to leave after a little more than an hour and we were left talking to Kim, who honestly probably is the person who has to put things into effect anyway, even though it's up to Eom how Kim uses his time. We had a nice lunch, too, but the dish I chose was much too small, and I was left feeling pretty hungry. The details of the lunch discussion would be too many to type and some of the discussion was quite speculative and "what if the CPA does this?" or "as artists what would you think if the CPA did that?" So it would be appropriate to put it all up here. However I did record the entire 2.5 hours, so I can review the discussion later and see what's there that might be included in the dissertation.

I went home changed my clothes, repacked my bag and left for 대구 Daegu. I got to my 합기도 Hapkido studio at 8:30 and practiced until 11:30 (seriously), when the 관장님 Instructor drove everyone home. I had elected to stay at his house since the test was early and I didn't want to bother Georgy and 진홍 Jinhong and spend all that time on the subway just to sleep. I had a nice dinner (at midnight) with the instructor and stole the neighbors' internet which worked just well enough to check my email and read more on the devastation in Japan.

March Already

March 1st, 2011
It was a holiday, so no 상모 sangmo class, which was good, because I felt pretty darn sick. Tried to get computing done, but not as much progress as I'd hoped.

March 2nd, 2011
I came back to 대구 Daegu for more 합기도 Hapkido. In the morning, on the train and even up until around 6 pm I felt pretty much normal, then I started to feel really ucky again. When I got to the area near the hapkido studio I realized I had enough time to stop and see the 택견 Taekkyon instructor that I learned with the longest.

Tangent: I started Taekkyon in 1998, I moved across town, so I switched to this guy, 정석재 Jeong Seokjae, in late 1999. I like him a lot. He's extremely humble and sweet, but his skills are –amazing-. Incidentally, the guy I started with quit teaching in maybe 2000 or 2001. I kept doing Taekkyon with Jeong Seokjae (and started teaching under him) until 2003. I took a year off (because I was out of Korea) and continued to train Taekkyon starting in 2004 in Seoul, but when that instructor quit (in 2005), I ran the place myself until I finished my MA in 2006. Tangent finished.

I went to see my old Taekkyon instructor, who was practicing on his own when I got there, and we had a great talk for an hour until a class of his students showed up. He looked like he hadn't aged a day. He's also formed a sort of demonstration/performance group for Taekkyon and they've started to participate in various events. He still is sort of struggling to keep enough students (Taekkyon is Korea's most traditional martial art, but it really lacks name recognition and visibility, not to mention that in general Koreans are turning away from the martial arts) but told me he had nothing he'd rather do (making a lot of jokes about wasn't he supposed to worry about money at his age and wasn't he still living life as though he was a twenty year old? But honestly he still looks like he's in his twenties, unless you look really closely (he has a son who is the same age as Hyeonggeon).

(And, random internet person, if you want to learn Taekkyon in Daegu, you only have 3 schools to choose from, I'd recommend this one, the other two schools are run by his students, anyway: In Korean: 053 586 3033). But if you are a random internet searcher for Hapkido schools in Daegu my school, 한양대 신라 합기도 Hanyangdae Shilla Hapkido is in 용산시장 Yongsan Market, nearest 이곡역 Igok Station on Line 2 (same directions for Taekkyon), and you can call the instructor (김유림 Kim Yurim) for more info (in Korean: 010 3535 2245). Obviously I highly recommend the place and the instructor, since I've been learning from him since before most of his Hapkido students were born.)

Subway photo on my cell phone in Daegu- I was struck by how the two friends had their hair cut exactly the same.

I practiced a lot of staff twirling and helped teach the classes. Unfortunately by the time that 박형건 Bak Hyeonggeon showed up (he's back in school now so he can't get off too early) I was feeling weak and listless but trying to convince myself I did not. After all, I had to practice. I managed only a little kicks before I decided I didn't have the energy, so mostly we just practiced the belt and cane and response to 호신술 self-defense moves stuff. I didn't do any falls, at all. I dragged myself back to Georgy and 진홍 Jinhong's house on the last subway of the day.

March 3rd, 2011
I woke up feeling totally lousy, and barely dragged myself out of the blankets periodically to drink some water and use the bathroom. Eventually (although I had hoped to hit the downtown area before going to Hapkido) I went to the E-mart next to Georgy and Jinhong's house and picked up a snack (which I had no appetite for) and some juice (which did seem attractive). I made it to Hapkido around 5 and the 관장님 instructor immediately told me to teach this kid who'd just started while he taught the class. So, I didn't get an opportunity to whine about feeling sick. I was busy teaching straight through until the 7:30 jump rope class, at which time I practiced a little on my own. Hyeonggeon showed up and we went through a few moves, but after I threw him twice in a row I felt so worn out I collapsed, then curled up on a mat and slept just to the side of all the noise and commotion.

After my nap I used almost all of my remaining strength on rehearsing my falls, ran through all the partnered moves with Hyeonggeon (not full speed or full strength however) and then we co-taught the 10 pm class. The class, we'd decided the day before, needed to go back and re-learn everything from the white belt, but learn it precisely this time. The students in the class are mostly 2nd degree blackbelt, and in the upper levels of middle school or in high school, but because they learned white belt when they were in elementary school, they didn't really learn precisely. More like they went through the motions well enough, but if Hyeonggeon or I grab them and say "get away" they can't. They just try to pull (partially afraid to be too aggressive on an instructor, this being Korean culture), or half-heartedly execute a hold-break, but they don't actually properly apply the techniques that they've been taught. Not even the girl who is the tallest member of the class (getting close to 6 feet, a giant in Korea with a strong build) or the boy who has to weigh 75 kilos (at least most of which is not fat) could get away from me. So we lined everyone up into the grabber and the grabbed and Hyeonggeon and I ran through about five moves with them making them practice again and again until the other person really couldn't hold on, or really was having their joint locked.

When I got back to Georgy and Jinhong's, only Jinhong was awake, but we haven't had a chance to have a nice talk, just the two of us, for months, so that was kind of nice even though I was pretty sleepy.


March 4th, 2011
In the morning I lolled around Jinhong and Georgy's, laughing too much over Georgy's new favorite site "damn you autocorrect" or some such name. Some of them really are funny.

The driver of the bus back to Seoul brought me a coffee when we were at the rest area/ bathroom break halfway back to Seoul. How sweet is that? The bus company is called 중앙고속 or Jungang Express, however they've taken to using their internet ID as their primary English name. This is amusingly Jabus (JungAng Bus). I just wish they were using like a dreadlocked head holding a giant spliff for their mascot instead of a running lion. It would definitely set their image apart from the other major bus companies (금호 Geumho (they spell it Kumho which is neither M-R of NGR, grr) and 통양 Tongyang are the other two companies that run over the entire country, though there are also regional bus lines that only service certain areas).

After I got home I spent the rest of the evening wishing I felt better and working on the computer.

Two Days of Hapkido in Daegu

February 23rd and 24th, 2011

I woke up late, but still made it to the bus station and to my Hapkido Studio (한양대 신라 합기도 체육관) by just after 4pm. This is a bit off-topic from my research but I am in 대구 Daegu again practicing Hapkido for a myriad of reasons great and small including
1) It is very hard to find really good instruction in martial arts. Since I've had some of the best instruction ever, I find going other places to be quite unsatisfying. And yes, I've gone plenty of other places. The only other truly good instructor I've found is Jason Tsou (UCLA, Taiji)
2) My Hapkido instructor and I have been working together on my Hapkido skills (except for a couple of years when I tried to find some place more convenient) since 1996, that's a lot of history. To say that he is one of the people I trust most completely in the world is an understatement. He's someone I would and have trusted to speak for me.
Taken on my 관장님's iPhone:

3) When you move from one teacher to another, it's hard to not go through a fairly long period of satisfying that person before they'll sponsor you to advance in degree. I want to finally get my 4th Dan (I tested for 4th Dan with my instructor in 2005 but not with the federation). I'll be able to take that 4th degree black belt test in just over two weeks (with that certification I am able to open my own studio anywhere, instead of running a studio for someone else. That I've already done, as those who have known me for a long while know).

For my Hapkido test, of course, I need a partner. Being a partner for someone who is testing for a high level is not fun. We practice moves again and again, but since 4th Dan takes years to attain, it's not like 1st Dan where you partner someone and they partner you. I throw my partner around but he doesn't throw me around. My partner is 박형건 Bak Hyeong-geon. Hyeong-geon has known me his –entire- life. He started Hapkido when he was 5. That's 5 in Korean age, so really it means 4. From when he was 5 to when he was 10, I was one of his primary instructors. Now he's a full grown high school senior who is 5 centimeters taller than me. Pretty wild to think about that, for both of us. On Wednesday we were joking around and we told one of the classes we were teaching that we were brother and sister and one of the students actually told us that we resembled each other. Koreans say you resemble someone when you spend so much time with someone that you sort of act alike and speak alike and have similar mannerisms.

Photo taken by the instructor on his DSLR:

Teaching with Hyeong-geon (which we did all day on both Wednesday and Thursday, practicing our own stuff between classes and when we could assign an activity and keep an eye on the students while we were practicing) is amazing. We teach in perfect sync, just tagging each other back and forth without even once misunderstanding, it's sort of mind-blowing. It's actually a little like having two bodies and one brain. In terms of Hapkido, I think it's true. Hyeong-geon has been shouldering a lot of teaching duties (with the 관장님 instructor teaching the most advanced moves and designing the lessons for the day) and his skills are fabulous, he's 3rd dan, now (which is unusually high for his age, but like I said, he started when he was 5). There are 50 minute classes from 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 (not a Hapkido class) and 10:00.

On the actual test I will primarily be working with weapons: cane, belt and staff, although I also have to do a series of moves which are how to counter when someone tries to put you in a lock/hold. I don't like working with any of these weapons (I mostly trained on a different weapon), but I particularly dislike working with the belt. It's not fun for me or Hyeong-geon because almost all belt moves end up with me choking him with the belt. Seriously, I was trying hard to make it look like I was choking him more than I actually was, but still imagine someone practicing four moves that include choking you with a cloth belt (you know, like the belts we wear in martial arts) several hundred times over two days. Not fun for the chokee. I will be executing five belt moves. One is a non-choke move. I will also have to demonstrate all basic kicks and they must be perfect (the idea for the 4th Dan is that you have to be able to teach the basics perfectly, not that you're able to do all the flashy moves). The most advanced sequence I will be required to do is 3 consecutive spinning kicks (done as three spins in one continuous motion) at head height, waist height and knee height. I will have to demonstrate all basic falls, again, perfectly. This includes being able take a running and diving roll over 8 people crouched side to side and being able to do a diving roll over something that is at least the height of my chest. Those aren't the tough falls for me although they are supposed to be the hardest, an easier fall really hurt so much on Wednesday I only practiced it twice. And I will be required, more than likely, to spar. We haven't talked about that yet. I am not as fast as I once was, and haven't sparred seriously in years.

Wednesday we worked from 4 to 11 without a break and I forgot that I had only had some sun chips on the bus for lunch and no dinner at all. Afterwards my instructor, 김유림 Kim Yurim and I went out for 막걸리 makgeolli, and I had to take a taxi back to Georgy and Jinhong's house on the far end of Daegu. 25,000! Thursday I had lunch with long time friend 문정호 Mun Jeongho who quit smoking! I picked up my new glasses (chosen and paid for in December as a present from Karjam) and got to the studio by 4 again. During the 6:30 class when our instructor was leading the students Hyeong-geon and I ran out to the nearest restaurant and had a super fast dinner. We were gone 15 minutes. Otherwise I practiced the whole time until 10, when I left and took the subway back to Georgy and Jinhong's with the former.

Performance for Week 1

January 22nd, 2010
I woke up extra early and made pancakes for everyone. There was also kimchi stew that 민기 Min'gi made, so some people ate a lot of pancakes and some just had a taste while sticking to more conventional Korean food. The pancakes were so popular that Min'gi even wrote down complete recipe and directions while others paid attention and seemed to be trying to just memorize it (it's easy, really, since it's 1 cup of (soy) milk, to 1 egg, to one cup of flour, plus baking soda and vinegar, stir and fry).

Before the performances began we had a 고사 gosa ceremony to bless the masks and the performers and performance space. 이재훈 Yi Jaehun, one of the jeonsugyoyuk jogyo (2nd ranked) oversaw the preparations and lectured the students on how to perform the ceremony properly. He is a total character, and normally dances the part of the old wife. The altar was set up at one end of the room with fruit, dried fish, snacks, candles, etc. on it (no boiled pig's head which would be a lot of expense for just a student performance without much of an audience). The officiants were talked through the ceremony (pouring 막걸리 makgeolli, lighting incense, reading an address, etc.) by Yi and the rest of the group (all lined up facing the altar in white 민복 minbok (peasant garb which is worn under costumes for things like mask dance drama performances) bowed (head to the floorboards) when we were told to bow.

The mixed team performed first. There were a few snafus, but it wasn't bad at all, some of the scenes were quite good. I did notice, however, that the detailed explanation of how to act the part of the old wife that I had heard being given only to the KNUA old wife (인선 Inseon) by 김동수 Kim Dongsu the previous night, had definitely not been given to the mixed team old wife at some other time. Then the KNUA team performed, by the time they started even more of the teachers had arrived, at the high point there were perhaps 10 teachers in the room, although they also wandered back out during the performance so that the final act had less teachers than the third act did. It was well done, better by far than the mixed team. Large differences between the two teams included the fact that 경진 Gyeongjin had performed the monk's dance (originally it was supposed to be 가은 Ga'eun but she's rather short and the really long sleeves of the costume were dragging on the floor even when she held her arms straight out from her shoulders to the side, she claimed that she wasn't disappointed not to do it, though. Gyeongjin is an excellent dancer, she did a great job. The Bibi scene was also much better in terms of use of the environment- they didn't just run around in circles within the space allotted- the 양반 yangban character at one point hit behind me, for example. And I already mentioned that Inseon got special training on dialogue delivery for the old wife, and she did a good job utilizing what she'd been taught, a lot of which was to vary ways that repetitive things are said. Variation in delivery and variation in certain gestures allowed her character to come alive to a greater degree. The first and second scene, however, seemed to be about of equivalent caliber, especially the first scene which was performed by the 27 year-old office worker who had practiced Goseong Ogwangdae since she was in college and had been to the training center four or more times before.







Gosa Ceremony:

Mundung:

Bibi:

Monk:

Old Wife:

Group

After the performances ended there was a short ceremony with a speech by Yi Yunseok, then I directly walked to the bus station and left for 대구 Daegu. In Daegu I was able to relax with Georgy, eating a delicious dinner, talking a lot, washing every stitch of clothes I was wearing and so on.

Two More Days of Hapkido

December 9th, 2010
We visited 유미 Yoomi’s dad at his camera shop and he cleaned my sensor for free while I was there (I also picked up some filters and a new strap). It was sad talking to him about what a hit his business has taken from online shopping. Especially considering how much of the online stuff is somewhat or all fake and how often these people later need service on their camera gear and have to pay through the teeth since they don’t get any A/S on online sales…


Then Karjam bought me two new pairs of glasses for my birthday and we went to 합기도 Hapkido.

I met the kid who’ll be my partner for the test, or rather I re-met him. I’ve known him since he was four. Okay, that’s just weird, right? Then some other girls I’ve taught before (who are now 2nd dan) came in and were all excited to see me. I didn’t really remember them, either. Seriously, when you see them and they are tiny and then you see them and they probably have boyfriends, it’s really hard to skip through all the intervening years.

I was there and exercising for five hours, which was about four hours more than my body wanted. I did a lot of falls, including running, leaping and rolling (length and height), kicking practice (I can see what I need to go back and polish, but the cool thing is I only need to do things on my good side, it’s not like I have to do kicks equally well with both legs. Not that there is a large difference, but still, it’s a source of comfort not to have to train hard on both sides. I also was able to work up to full speed on some of the cane and belt techniques, then the 관장님 Gwanjangnim taught me to use the staff some. Why do I have to use these three? The staff will need the most practice of all.

Near the end of the evening I was just sort of sitting and having a rest while I watched the Gwanjangnim teach and I started thinking about how he was teaching and how martial arts are taught in Korea (very successfully, obviously, with large numbers of students) and I started contemplating how and why the traditional arts are taught differently—something I hope to pursue more later on as I write my dissertation.

December 10th, 2010
I went to 합기도 Hapkido again, but my partner had too many final exams to show up, so I mostly worked on the staff by myself (something I could do in Seoul, too, so I felt it was a waste of time). Karjam doesn’t want to go back to Seoul until tomorrow, so that’s what’s happening.

Hapkido in Daegu

December 8th, 2010

Karjam and I woke up this morning and braving fat heavy swirling snowflakes headed to the Express Bus Terminal and then to Daegu. Cell photo as the snow started to fall:

I’m in Daegu preparing for a 합기도 hapkido 단 dan test that I’ll take next March. I actually was supposed to do this test in 2005 or 2006 but it didn’t happen because of all the time I was putting into my MA, so I’ll be doing it in 2011 instead. The 관장님 gwanjangnim/my instructor and I went over a little over half of what I’d be tested on. Since it’s a high level exam it’s pretty rigorous, at least five master instructors will be required to grade my exam, which will (only me, no one else moving around) take 15-20 minutes. I have to test on –everything- basically, because this test means I’m a fully licensed instructor of a rank to open my own 체육관 martial arts training center, not as an assistant, but as the main instructor. Today I reviewed kicks and falls (do you have any idea how long it’s been since I did 회전축방 (flip in the air feet over head and land on your side)? And I started to learn the 지팡이 cane and belt techniques I’ll have to do for the exam as well. Neither cane nor belt has been my favorite weapon/defensive tool in the past—I really have always focused more on 쌍절곤 (laugh if you want to, nunchuks. I never meant to get into that as my weapon, it's just that I’m good at them. Two hands, two sets, very fast).

We had a lovely dinner that 박진홍 Bak Jinhong made us, then Georgy and I went to E-mart because in Daegu they still have the olive oil margarine that Seoul stopped carrying. Check out the E-mart Christmas spirit from this photo from Georgy’s cell phone.

Grape Farm

August 27th, 2010

진홍 Jinhong has several farmers in his family and his uncle has a farm in 경산 Gyeongsan, very close to where he lives. He mentioned that he wanted to go help on the farm, and Karjam and I thought that’d be good, too. But the first day (the 26th) we went up 갓바위 Gatbawi, part of 팔공산 Palgongsan (mtn) with a very famous Buddha statue of the medicine Buddha from 638 AD. This was out of hope that Georgy would come with us, but she chickened out of the hike in the humidity and went back down when we’d hardly started. The 27th we were agreed we’d go to the farm, but from the start of the day it was super high humidity and Jinhong was hesitant. I asked him to call and see what was going on, and indeed the family was working, so we went to join them. In the morning, honestly, we weren’t that much help. They were at the tail end of harvesting and sorting one patch of grapes, and they sent me into the patch with a big silver pail and a pair of clippers, but the grapes I was taking were clearly inferior. Actually the grapes were fine, but they were of uneven sizes, loosely aligned (not a classic bunch) and there were rotten grapes amongst them to be removed before placing the rest in the pail. It turned out that most of the grapes I picked were boxed up for us to take back to Seoul.

Photos:
Karjam with Jinhong and his nephews. Jinhong's aunt and uncle (driving the boxes of grapes out of the work shed after everything was done).




After another lunch prepared by Jinhong we returned to a different area, and after some preparation time, spread a net over an entire grape patch. The patch was about ¼ of an acre in size, rectangular, and each line of vines had a roof of clear plastic tarp (so they wouldn’t get so much rot damage from the summer rains). However it was a bit late to be spreading the net as the vines and leaves also extended up on both sides of the covered area, and I was the only person tall enough to work without a rod with a small scoop on the end to push the net over the top of each hump of tarp-roof. The crew was Jinhong’s aunt (a grandmother of 65 or so), Jinhong’s cousin’s wife (a Vietnamese picture bride I met last year, very nice with heavily accented Korean), Jinhong, Karjam and I. As soon as we got the net over the first row (the hardest row to get it over, for sure) it began to rain cats and dogs and then horses and elephants. I have never been wetter in my life, except perhaps when in 8th grade I was rolled around by rough waves in Baja until I was coughing up water. Water was in my ears. Water was in my nose. Water was everywhere. And of course allover me and staying that way, since I was fully dressed. The raindrops were huge and fat and heavy as pebbles. I had to look up to grab the net standing on my tiptoes and pull it down into the gap between the previous covered row and the yet uncovered row, my glasses were running with water to an extent that I could hardly see the white net against the white/grey cloud-cover. We worked this way laughing and screaming in the rain for about an hour until the entire patch was covered. Then we went back to Jinhong’s aunt and uncle’s house for towels (which I used on my clothes as well as exposed arms and face and hair). Slightly dry we drove back to Jinhong and Georgy’s where I promptly but somewhat ironically took a (warm) shower.

Photos: the grape patch we were in in the afternoon before we started work and the rain began.

Yeonil Seunim

August 26th 2010
Karjam and I have a friend, a Buddhist nun, 연일 스님 Yeonil Seunim. We met her in Lhasa and she came to Lanzhou and met us and went to Ahwencang with us where she stayed for several days charming everyone. I was later able to meet her in Korea (just a couple months later). However the contact info we had for her no longer worked and we couldn’t find her. I thought I had a physical address in an old notebook, but couldn’t find it if so. At any rate when we were moving back to Korea Karjam insisted that we HAD to find Yeonil Seunim. So I put it on my list of things to do and first I called directly to the 조계종 Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism (which Yeonil belongs to) head office, they directed me to another office. I told them all the info I had and they kept saying “it’s going to be really hard to find her if that’s all you know.” That frustrated the heck out of me. If they meant impossible, they shouldn’t say really hard. Yeonil is her Buddhist name, and I don’t know her legal name, that’s part of the problem because even I know two Yeonil Seunim (one a monk). At any rate they weren’t going to be useful and I’d be a bad Buddhist if I started getting all pissy with them, so I tried to come up with another method to find her. First I tried to Naver (Google) a list of all the temples with nuns, or all of them in 충청 Chungcheong Province (I didn’t even know if it was north or south Chungcheong, I could only remember that her temple was in Chungcheong somewhere). This was rather frustrating. I tried a lot of keyword combinations, 여스님 woman+monk didn’t work at all and kept giving me results showing a famous monk who is called X+여스님, but 비구니 bhikkuni was not super helpful, either. At any rate I determined that there was one temple for sure (a large one and I suspected Yeonil was at a smaller place) that had nuns and I called a random number on the internet and explained the situation to whoever answered (I suspect a nun, but I don’t even know). She didn’t personally know any Yeonil Seunim but she told me to call her back the next day and she’d see if she could locate anyone that met my description (I knew rough age, her proclivity for travel and the fact that she observed the two periods of confinement and practice each year and did a lot of meditation (as opposed to those who study a lot of texts or those who work in administration).

The next day we left for Daegu. More than a year ago I was beset by benign positional vertigo (peaking on the day I threw up twice), now it appears I have it again. After arriving in Daegu I was too busy trying not to spin to remember to call the helpful woman (nun?) again, but my phone rang after 7. “You were supposed to call me back.” “Sorry I’ve been feeling sick.” “Well I found a Yeonil Seunim and it might be the one you’re looking for, want the number?” So I called Yeonil Seunim and just with me meekly saying “안녕하세요. 저는 연일 스님 찾고 있습니다.” “Hello. I’m looking for Yeonil Seunim.” She already knew it was me. We had a really awesome talk, and will meet up soon in Seoul, as the summer seclusionary period has just ended. “I love you both, you know that, right?” She told me.

I went to meet old friends 정호 Jeongho and 수연 Suyeon .
I had dinner with Jeongho.

I had coffee with Suyeon
On the way back to Georgy's house a former student when I taught at Suseong Girls' Middle School approached me, and we had a nice talk on the subway (she rode all the way to Georgy and Jinhong's stop in order to have a good chat).

I took this photo of 보경 Bogyeong, my former student, on Karjam's camera: