Hermits, High Heels and Spam

I need something special

This is inside one of the temples we visited, this is just a tiny one

The Yogi Master we took yoga from, he invited us for tea after class

Pig heads at the market, not my fav

A traditional Korean restaurant, this one happened to be vegetarian, yay for me!

The hike up to the Hermitage

The monk at the Hermitage GIVING ME A MASSAGE! It's true. My back/hip hurt too bad to sit cross legged so I was moving about the whole time we were in his little quarters, so he noticed and wanted to help me feel better. How sweet is that?!

I believe this was a clothing or shoe store, either way, Mickey's Smell House doesn't exactly make sense (unless of course they were used shoes)

Temple

Em and Karissa on a night out

FIRST WEEK ON JEJU

It's been both very exciting and very different to be here in Korea after a week of experiences. Some of the interesting cultural differences are noted below:

• Women wear high heels for every occasion. I've been told they even wear them HIKING and to the beach! Karissa said there is a sign at the bottom of a trail that even says "no high heels" at one place. Many of them still have a difficult time getting around in them as well.
• They love SPAM and put it in everything - and yes I've eaten it and lived to tell about it
• Fast, fast fast. When eating, they shovel the food in as fast as possible and leave the restaurant. After Yoga, about 30 seconds of Savasana and then WHOOSH, out the door.
• Pushing and shoving is okay and totally accepted in this culture.
• Driving is mad, riding on the bus almost appears to be a death wish at times. Forget "rules of the road" completely
• I am seen as something very....different....and am therefore the topic of many conversations at restaurants, especially when it's me alone (they don't eat alone, ever) and even more so when it's both Karissa and I....it's like going to the Circus I bet! Many younger kids just say what they know in English, whether it is 'I love you' or 'what time is it' or just 'hello my name is.......'
• Food is crazy cheap, especially because the Won isn't doing very well right now. When I go to lunch in the city and have: a sushi roll, side dishes of kimchi and fermented radish, and a big bowl of noodle soup, it is about $2....dinner, which is a little more perhaps, is about $3. So we don't exactly HAVE to cook at home, but I do when I'm at Karissa's during the day sometimes.

The coolest part of my time here has been seeing a Hermitage (a Monk/Hermit at his Temple for 3 years) and having a tea ceremony with him, and going to Yoga with a Yogi Master. It was the most unreal yogic experience of my life. And of course it was all in Korean and I didn't understand a single word except "Savasana" at the end. I just watched everyone though. Karissa's friend Jason took us, it's his Yoga class that he goes to.

"AH-PEY-YO" Korean for "Pain"

I did have my first Korean Acupuncture session, much more painful than Chinese and Japanese acupuncture, those aren't painful at all. The only word the practitioner taught me was "Ah-pey-yo" for PAIN. Not so that he would stop when I said it, just so he would know which side was more painful on DEEP palpation. In terms of the acupuncture, the needles must have been a lot bigger! Then I had "cupping" which is interesting and somewhat uncomfortable, but not as painful as when he was pressing, very very firmly, into my abdomen to find the front of my spine. And to all of my clients and LMP's, this is WAY more intense than Psoas work, which most of you have experienced. He said he was trying to find all the places the Thoracic nerves were located at the anterior to see which side was more painful. So I'm going to go 3 times this week and hope to start feeling some benefit in my back and hip soon!