careful there is a shark behind you!

SHARK!!!!!

Here we go. The beginning part of training was a power point and paperwork so needless to say it was pretty dry, but the instructor was funny so it made it more bareable. Let’s get to the water. Well I was part of group two, so we hit the water second but was able to watch group one. This was fun in itself, in the water you are treated like a celebrity, everyone waving and taking pictures of you in amazement that you are in the tank with sharks. Down there everyone thinks you’re an expert scuba diver, not first timers. It was fun to be on both sides of the glass.  Watching sharks swim right above them as if they were not there.

 Then came our turn. We get in the wet suit that everyone looks funny in, and that mask and the tank that is really heavy. O did I mention the weight belt that weighs about a quarter of your body weight. But in the water you can’t feel any of it. After a few training moves like breathing underwater, what to do if there is water in your mask, and what to do if the mouth piece thing comes out underwater; we start to head down into the real thing. I am the first! Backing down atop the tunnel with spectators underneath. Every few steps you must pop your ears because the pressure is so immense. When you reach the bottom your senses go into overloaded. I didn’t know what to look at first. To the left were mini dolphins, on the ground were shark teeth if I could find them and all around me were fish. When everyone got down we spent little time looking at the porpoise (mini dolphin). Then a few minutes looking for shark teeth, I was only able to find one. The hunt was very difficult with the rocks at the bottom being white. Then we went into the deepest part of the tank which is about 3 feet deeper than the rest, and is used to hand feed the sharks. But it is the closest to the glass where all the spectators are watching from. When we were under there we were not afraid at all of the six sharks swimming around. At times the sharks were within probably an arm’s reach. The day earlier I was thinking to myself that I was crazy. I will be swimming with sharks; do I have a death wish? And while I was in there it was more like a petting zoo. Except in this zoo if you pet the animals the dive would be ended because the instructor would kick not only you but every other diver out. One of the best parts was all the smiles that you put on the spectators faces. Not only the kids but the parents, everyone was taking photos, kids were pressing their hand against the glass and we would respond by putting our hand in theirs. We were complete strangers but in the moment we were like older siblings. The half hour under the water felt like ten minutes. As we exited and reached the pool that was knee depth they released the massive sea turtles and we were able pet those. What a great adventure.

 We had a great dinner of fresh seafood dinner. That is what happens when you are in a city on the Oceanside. After dinner we put 9 people in a Korean friend’s car. He drove us up a mountain in the center of the city. On the way there were short glimpses of the view, but they were just teasers for the real thing. Which, after we parked it was about a 10 minute walk up the rest of the mountain. When we reached the top, the view was priceless, seeing the city lights from that high is majestic. And with that group of people it was full of laughs. Some of which were at my disposal. Bridget and Bonggi went over onto the grass and onto a plywood board and were looking at the city. I went to run and scare them, but as I hit the wood I fell flat on my butt wiping them out like a little kid standing at the bottom of sledding hill. Everyone was ok. The way down the hill was very fun and somewhat dangerous. It was very icy my friend Hannie had ugg like boots with very bad traction so she was falling everywhere. Me and Bonggi ,the Korean friend, each grabbed an arm. At that point she just stopped walking and was just sliding down. So we started to run and as if she was wearing skis going down a mt. she just cruised down the path. We ended up stopping after a few minutes because if any of us had fallen it would have been very ugly. Instead it was just epic.

The rest of the weekend was filled with great eats, laughs, and great times. I met some great people and got to know the normal crew even better. It’s going to be sad as they start to leave in just a couple weeks. Luckily most of them are going back to Eastern. But for now I wait for the next weekend’s adventure. Who knows what in store? All I know is that I will be in Seoul.

need the lows to get the highs

Let’s get this started. Friday I was feeling sort of down. It probably was my lowest point so far in Korea. I had no plans for Friday or Saturday. I told myself it was a weekend to get work done, but come on really? It was 9:30 at night and I hadn’t left my apt. I knew I needed to change that. So I took the stuff I wanted to get done to a coffee shop and stated to work. I was there maybe a half hour when Su Kyoung the owner of my favorite coffee shop DDols messaged me. Her, her husband, and a few others were out eating and they wanted me to join. I was relieved and had a fresh breath of life. At that point I knew that staying for this extra time will be managable, I have people outside the ones whom are leaving. But there was still some hesitation. Saturday I was at ddols most the day doing work. Then went home and watched some tv shows and movies looking forward to Sunday morning.

Sunday morning came early. I was to be at the rock wall at 9:30. The club was meeting and going to a place nearby to make a new trail in this rock formation. I wasn’t looking forward to it too much cause it sounded like me sitting around for several hours and watching them do work and then me trying, but not being able to get up the natural rock. Wow was I wrong. It was a lot of fun. When I got there they put me on fire duty, Hell yeah!!! I love fire. So after I started a nice fire I noticed the oldest member of the club sawing down trees with a hand saw and pulling them over near the fire. I have no clue why. We had a lot of wood as it was. I still am not sure why we did it, but I spend most the sawing trees down and dragging them to the pile. Which was a lot of fun I miss hard manual labor.  Then lunch was strips of beef cooked over the coals of the fire. BEST MEAL YET. It reminded me of a nice juicy steak, but the best was yet to come, I am told to put my shoes on, I am climbing next. At the bottom I looked up to the top about 50ft to the end of the course, needless to say I was intimidated the holds were not popping out, colored and perfect for my hands. That is what I am used to. Well here goes nothing. I slowly worked my way up. At times thinking there is no way then after feeling the rock for a minute I would find a hold. That feeling is amazing. When I reached the top it was a huge boost of confidence, but I wanted to keep going.  But there is not better feeling than climbing your first natural rock.

The next day I was honored to be invited to a 제사 or Jaesa. Which is an ancient tradition honoring the ancestors. Wow it was great; the grandfather spoke good English and the kids whom I know from climbing, love me. One little boy only wants to sit on my lap. I have adopted both of them as my brothers. The ceremony started with the grandfather writing the ancestors name in Chinese characters and placing them at their seat at the table, a table that was packed with tons of food. Then incense was lit to welcome the spirits. And a series of welcoming bows were done. The grandfather then poured drinks for the ancestors and stayed bowed as the ancestors ate. After a few minutes they brought them dessert. Then more bowing to say goodbye and thank you. In closing they burnt that piece of paper with the names on candle from the table. That was to cleanse the room. Wow it was awesome; as it was starting the grandpa looked at me and was like why are you not taking pictures? I didn’t know it could. He then demanded me to take a lot of pictures as time posing for them. I thought it would be rude to take pictures during the ceremony, but what do I know. 

Various wednesday night hikes with the climbing crew. I love this family.

Fast forward to the next Friday, it was going to be a busy and fast paced Friday with a lot do to. First school, then leave early to travel to Daegu for a farewell banquet with some of the scholars that are leaving, finally travel to Busan to get a good night sleep before the shark dive. Well, just like in Michigan nothing goes as planned. I leave for school and there is maybe a half an inch of snow. Which is exciting but as I hear that some of the other scholars schools were canceled I was more confused. Yes, it was the first legit snow fall and this area isn’t used to snow. But for it to shut down schools? I didn't think of it being near enough. I get on my bus like normal then as I am almost to my school I get a call from the mentor teacher... no school! Well that is awesome but I am on the bus and almost to the school. If I take this bus to its destination it will park there for an hour and then another 40 mins on the bus back to my place. So I quickly decided to get off the bus. Haha mistake maybe... I ended up just walking, and walking for about 30 minutes wishing for a cab. But wait, that is right I am in the middle of nowhere. When a cab finally approaches me,his light is off and that means that he is already taken. The trek continues. But that cab comes back after dropping that person off and picks me up so in the end i was able to get a ride home instead of walking several hours. It was about 15$ but I didn’t care I was out of the snow and freezing cold. That was the first hiccup. Then we get a bus at 4:10. It is an hour 20 bus ride and we have to be there at 630 so we have time. HAHAHA we knew the bus would take longer than normal due to the conditions but we had no clue it would take 3 hours. So needless to say we were late, but so was everyone traveling from neighboring cities. The event was awesome. Saw some old friends and were able to say goodbye to those who were leaving. Then was the trek to Busan to stay in a jimjalbong on the beach side. Epic right, spa on the beach. We get there and they are cleaning the spa area so we could only shower and sleep. But, the next morning the spas were open and we took advantage of them. Of course being the only guy in the group I was in there with a bunch of Koreans and me. Needless to say mine spa time was much shorter than the girls. So I went out and had a nice cup of coffee next to the ocean. Not a bad alternative.

shark dive..... to be continued......