Not wet. Not Hump day.

So today I didn't go to Seoul and I did not walk in the rain anywhere. Because it was not raining, and I am going to Seoul tomorrow. Instead, I woke up at the crack of 11am and went to Yesan and read Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy.

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking: "Why are you Robert, a English major, with a thousand pages of War and Peace which, by the way, you dragged half way around the world to read, staring at you, reading Tom Clancy?!" To this unvoiced question of yours I would like give this answer:



I am sorry for sounding like I was completely down and out last weekend. It generated a lot of concern. I mean I was kind of down and out. I mean who wouldn't be after trudging through the rain banjoless all day?

But I hate to think of myself as a whining problem finding person, especially when I am, so I have decided in light of a certain lack of used banjos, that I am going to just to have to make one. I have a pretty awful cheap electric guitar that I got at the flea market that had no banjos when I was trying to get one for the praise band. I have not played it in like four months but the neck is easily unattached and so I am going to take it and make a canjo of some sort with it. I am still looking for something to use for the drum, I can't seem to find any metal cookie tins, but some other options might be a shallow hand drum or tambourine, or a metal oil can. I am looking.

In other positive not feeling sorry for myself news, I am done with Story Tree! The Dark Haired Korean Goldilocks and the Three Bears turned out to be a hit, every five year old loves to trespassing, theft, destruction of property and squatting followed by three hungry angry bears chasing the culprit out of the house. It helped that I told it correctly too. The book's version really didn't have that punch of suspense when the bears come home. So the last couple of days have been Looney Tunes day on youtube.

Also last week I forgot to mention that I dropped by the juggling shop in Seoul and got three really comfortable nice looking professional juggling balls. Something I can actually perform with. They are the ones that are practically invisible in the video above.

Penultimately, my long, long, long, long long loooooooonnnnnng awaited black belt test is Monday! I am sure I will pass just fine. We actually did some one step sparring on friday. I was extremely excited about that. Hopefully we will do more. I will have pictures by the way.

Finally, today I managed to jog for five minutes three times with only five minutes of walking in between. It is the first time I have been able to do it. Monday I only managed the first five minutes. This is really cool because I am seeing some improvement.

Wet. on humpday.

So today I was soaked.

I went to Seoul today. I walked in the rain to the station. I arrived and it was raining. I walked over the place in the rain, until it cleared up right I was going back to the station to go home. My backpack was also soaked along with my Korea tourism book. I will probably have to get another one, because it was a good book.

But the good news was I got to play a banjo today!!! I have missed my banjos a lot the last six months, and while trudging through the rain I finally found the musical instrument market. In it I found six banjos, all to expensive for me and closed backs to boot, but I played one anyways and it felt good.

My nose is fine at the moment. It still runs some but in a normal way.

I have now been officially here for six months. It's humpday! Yay!

and I was doing so well there...

Well it now actually hot here, and muggy. I have been waiting for it all summer, and now it happened. Being in a place with four seasons is weird when you come from a place with only two: Hot and winter.

My sinuses have been acting up a whole bunch lately too. I had a low level headache all last week, and last night I got a nose bleed in my right nostril. Before all that I felt stuffy, though I could breath just fine. I am just doing the stoic thing with all of it because none of it is debilitating.

A couple of weekends ago I went and saw a exhibit called "The Glory of Persia" at the National Museum in Seoul put on jointly by the South Korean, and Iranian governments. It was really cool. It had by far the most beautiful gold pieces I have ever seen outside of a movie.

I also found a park where a whole lot of GO and asian Chess was going on. I attracted a small crowd by drawing a couple of guys playing GO in my sketch book. One of the gentlemen watching me asked me to draw him, but I was too close and did a portrait which I haven't attempted in years. He didn't like it much, but he like the drawing of the GO game quite a bit.

I went ahead and invested in a computer. A small desktop, which works wonderfully. I was going to hold out and keep on my laptop, but the thing is on its last leg and driving me crazy. I got the computer custom built at the Digital Market in Yongson station with everything I wanted for well below my budget. It is defintly coming back to the states with me.

What else? Oh yeah I have been having fun with my spiritual life. I have been reading The Perennial Philosopy by Adolus Huxeley which I found at one of the used book stores in Seoul. It is about the common thought threads of the saints and mystics around the world. I bought it because I had been listening to Speaking of Faith programs, and they got me thinking about some things, namely, my center, and being present in the here and now, and how I have been ok with now, but not so much with "here." My mind is often far far way back in Texas. Anyways I was thinking about mysticism again, and happened upon the book and bought it. It is very good, and if you are spiritually inclined you should definitly check it out.

But now I have to go. I was given "homework" for TKD which was to streach everyday. So I am going to go out to the cool evening (er midnight) air and do that before bed.

Peace!