Highest of highs and Lowest of Lows.

This blog is going to be on fast forward. I am so far behind and people want to know about my arm and how it happened.

In March I went to this great wine tunnel that seemed very medieval. It was a very dark and somewhat creepy place but it was a lot of fun and the wine was made of persimmons. Which is a fruit not grown in America. I don’t like the fruit but the wine is good (especially at 10am haha).  After the wine tunnel we went to famous bull fighting. I was so excited for this. But it literally was just two bulls pushing each other with their heads/horns. It was not very action packed at all. It was kind of disappointing. But there was a whole festival so it was fun. At one point I tried a dried persimmon (fruit) and said that I really liked it but I didn’t have any money. So I walked away. 5 minutes later an older lady tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a big thing of them for free. It was just one example of a perk of being a foreigner in Korea. Finally our last stop was at a small farm and into a greenhouse and did some strawberry picking. That was really cool. We were given a box and told fill it up. This was harder than it looked, because one would go in the box and 2 into my mouth. But, Overall it was a good relaxing day.

Baseball

I LOVE BASEBALL. But Korean baseball is strange. I was walking to the park the back gate was open where the bus drops the players off. And so I walked up to it and pretty much was on the warning track. When I saw a American player, it was cool cause I just said hey and we talked for a few minutes(would never do that at an MLB game) then a security guard realized I wasn't supposed to be there and kicked me out. Outside the stadium are vendors selling fried chicken and beer. I met up with everyone, everyone being 10 Koreans. This was set up by the coffee shop owners whom are awesome! We go into the stadium, which is smaller than most minor league parks. But we go to our seats and the guys come with 2 huge boxes. They brought in just a ton of beer, fried chicken, and chips. It was crazy. They just go to a local grocery story and load up and bring it all in. No way can you do that in America. The game was the same but it was hard to get into it. I was not able to recognize the names nor did I know who was a good player and who wasn't. Overall it was a lot of fun. And something I had always wanted to do. Now I need to get to a soccer game.

A super fan pumping up the crowd. That is dedication. 

Agisan

I went there will the Ddol’s owners (my fav coffee shop) and a couple of our friends. The name of this mt. translates to baby mountain, well it is only about 500 meters but it is one of the hardest hikes I have done. It is just straight up with and seems like it is never ending. I did it in the winter and it was even harder. But it was fun to do it with them. On the way down were pretty much just ran down. It’s the little memories like this I will never forget.

Part of my Korean family.

Still climbing trees

Bukhansan

The name means North Korea Mt. It is in the north part of South Korea. It was my friend Leah’s bday weekend and she wanted to hike. So we went, it is in the north part of Seoul and it was a great hike. It wasn’t that hard but it was fairly long. The best part was being able to see a massive part of Seoul from above. Seoul has a metro area that has population of about 50 million. It is the biggest city in Korea and one of the biggest in the world. And a good portion of the way up there was a stream next to us which makes it even more beautiful. After the hike we went in to traditional markets and had Korean pancakes. Made from vegetables and sometimes octopus, they are so good. We also had rice wine, raw beef, and soju. It was a great meal. With some really long lines. They were very popular places. Altogether a great time hanging out with a friend whom I don’t see much anymore.

Seoul is behind the fog/clouds. It was beautiful

Buddha shrine at a temple.

Just hanging out at the monks gym.

Happy Birthday Leah

Korean pancake anyone?

How about some raw beef. Above is how its served. Here is how its eaten. Those are pear slices. Sooo Goood.










Namhae

Namhae is a small island on the southern tip of South Korea. It is just a place of beauty. So much happened here I am going show you in pictures.


On the boat while deep sea fishing.

Our boats catch.....I didn't catch any, it was very disappointing but a lot of fun still.

 Big bonfire. Reminded me of home. except that they cooked snails in the fire.

Hanging with Grandma. We did a homestay, and she was our lady. Very sweet, and cooked us amazing meals.

 her front yard? porch? not sure what you call it.

 A beautiful catch from the fishing. I have never seen a fish caught with so many colors.

 trying to get my catch....fail

 sea kyaking

 we were the fastest kayak on the water. We may have been the only ones racing but who cares.

Time to snorkle

ooo what beautiful rock there are. literally only rocks. nothing colorful.

 One of my favorite things. We got to plow with a field ox. It reminded me of how my ancestors had to plow the field back home. Ironically it was on the same day my grandpa passed away. God Bless Him. Still with us even today.

the crew

 the village

  

 Rafting without white waters.

 handfishing... I caught one. you would stick the lure(in my right hand) on the rocks the tide would come up and the fish would swim up through the rock and bite the lure then you lift it and put it in the cup. It wasn't easy at all.

 morning hike in the fog

hiking crew

cool cave thingy












Jeju

Same with Jeju… picture/caption show.

Going against the river on the way to a waterfall.

 Random Graffiti, this is not a common site in Korea. But they still have skill.

getting wet before the fall.

natural water slide

its called dragon rock.... i dont really see it. 

fresh seafood anyone?

playing on the rocks

chillin at the top of Hallasan

Very rare!!! a deer seen in Korea. 

dead jelly fish at the beach. As the tide was rising that night it was like playing frogger trying to avoid all of them. 

curves in korea???

beautiful beach. 

Hallasan tallest Mt. in South Korea 1950 meters. 

mad dash to the top

check point

Sushi for dinner. count me in! Raw salmon please. 

Massive creator at the top of the Mt/volcano

chillin on top of Korea 

the before mentioned waterfall. Washing my hair like in the commercials. Best feeling ever. 

Paragliding

You get the picture (like the pun).

This is where we do it!

Gear is prepped to fly.

Ready to go! go pro and all

I believe i can fly(but this isnt me!haha)

ready for take off

the back of this truck carried 7ppl from the landing spot to the takeoff point. It was a crammed and scary ride. But a lot of fun. 

A new friend i met. She went to Mich. Tech for a year. Small world. 

Getting mad air

Busan/injury

sand art festival. 

the makeshift sling that worked for 2 days. 

Really I am keeping it short cause typing with a broken elbow is annoying. So here is what happened. And a current update. We were at this beautiful temple on the sea side. My friend Andy and I were climbing along the shore on the rocks trying to get over to these rock figures. We almost got there and realized that it is impossible to do so. So we climbed onto the actual temple land. This isn’t hard or dangerous. But when we got up we realized we were standing on the platform to a sacred prayer statue thing. And knew we had to get down fast because it was very disrespectful.  I went to jump over a short fence to the ground platform and on the way down I caught my foot so I fell about five to six feet. I fell as if I was lying on my side. I reached my left hand out to brace the fall. Originally I thought I just jammed my elbow and wrist. It ends up I chipped a small piece of bone off in my elbow. Luckily it wasn’t displaced and it is healing correctly. So at the moment I am almost 2 weeks into my cast. And when I first got it I was told 4-6 weeks. If it takes 6 weeks it will be the day before I leave that I would get it removed. The day after it happened I went to a climbing competition I was signed up for. It was so disappointing not being able to climb. But the climbing family kept me fed and entertained. Don’t worry I am not in physical pain. Just frustrated cause now I can’t climb or play soccer or do pretty much anything I wanted to do before I left. But it is what it is and I have to live with it. I have done so much here I am grateful for that.

After the hospital. My half cast. A week later i  was put in a full cast. 

This guy broke total form and threw up the peace sight. 

Dinner..Amazing.. scallops and a big ass something. Kinda like clam, not fully sure what it is. 

More sand art

My name is toward the bottom. Wish i could have put some numbers in the blank spots. 

what could have been.