I digress.
I've just received an incredible care package for my upcoming birthday full of all kinds of vegetarian goodness and love from my coworker/bestie in Korea's mama, and I'm high on loooooove. My little mama passed away 10 years ago this coming November, so there's been some mind-swirlin' counting down to the anniversary, but MAN, I can't even tell you what getting a package full of mama-love does for the soul, even if it's not your own mama. Old Man Pops does a mighty fine job with his packages, but there's something different about a mama.
So here's to blogging about September and October while high on love:
1) I got a motorbike. AND A DOG. Both are wonderful and make life better.
I'm still a scaredy on the bike and stubbed my toe on it today while hopping off in a panic. But Matty's perfect and just a foster; he is NOT coming home with me. I'm only allowed to keep the imperfect dogs that no one else wants; this guys too good to stay with me. I think I have a potential home set up for him, but I can't spill the beans yet. Stay tuned and take solace that in the meantime knowing that I wake up in the mornings with a tiny paw on my eyeball and have a constant itty teddy bear on my lap. He makes the ladies and gents swoon and totally completes me for now.
2) Chuseok happened, otherwise known as Korean Thanksgiving. Our plan was to go camping on a beach on Goeje Island, but Korea = rain, so we rented a minbok instead (a big room with a kitchen and bathroom) and camped indoors. Even in the rain, I liked Goeje better than Jeju. It's quaint and lovely and adorable and perfect.
Just as we arrived to the little port and beach town, we acquired a dog that we named Sir Scruffy. He was amazing. He gave us a full tour of the teeny town and ran around with us in the rain on the beach. I had no doubts that we'd be bringing him home with us, regardless of the fact that my Matty was coming home the following week. But we were (meaning I was) ultimately talked out of it due to the fact that he was wearing a collar and obviously belonged to someone who enjoyed sharing his knowledgeable and furry little tour guide with foreigners.
We also saved his life. As we were coming down a mountain where we found a random goat meandering around a field that Sir Scruff REALLY wanted to get at, we ran into a little old ajumma with a big collar and chain. She wanted Sir Scruff. And he did NOT want her. She was clearly not his awesome owner. As the others in our group walked away, m'ladies and I looked at each other and promptly yelled "SAVE SCRUFFY!" And we ran. Scruffy ran with us. But little ajumma was not a quitter, man, she was a straight up slow and steady zombie lady following us all the way. We lost her around a few corners and bends, and then to thank us, Sir Scruffy ran off with some Australian foreigners. But I don't blame him. Those accents are dead sexy. Running from our zombie-ajumma was a real bonding experience and quite an exercise in our creative story telling. I really need to write down the things we come up with. I.e., Scruffy became a flying super hero ala Falcor, and we rode him across the sky to safety during the zombie apocalypse.
It was that kind of trip.
3) Andong Maskdance Festival. Masks and dancing and television superstars. This is an international festival with dancers and masks and arts and crafts and no food. Um. I hate arts and crafts. Also, festivals do NOT cater to vegetarians, nor to tiny folk villages. My fellow veggie and I sustained ourselves for 48 hours on a bag of Sun chips, 4 bowls of rice, and two beans from an edamame plant we found. However, Andong was still an awesome experience, and I learned that when I get lost in a maze in a village, rather than panicking, I will pull out my camera for a photo shoot with my favorite lady. We saw some weird fireworks that involved lobbing giant balls of fire down a mountain and standing under falling embers, which was made even more absurd by the rampant Korean speakers going off in our ears excitedly yelling things that we'll never understand. We were also interviewed multiple times about our experience in Andong, and two of my friends made it onto the national news; total superstars.
Aside from those noteable adventures, I've had multiple trips to Busan for fun because it's way more fun than Ulsan, and took a 7th trip to Seoul to meet with animal people. Good things may happen in the future with that, stay tuned. As for Busan, I've made a decision: it's my next stop. After a few months traveling next summer and a couple of months home for my brothers wedding, I'll head back here for another year in Busan. The city and the beach are awesome and I can't say no. I'm in love with Gwangalli. A lot of things re: my travels are up in the air, but I've got some great things planned with some great people so far. I can't wait and rea-hee-heally need to step up on saving my KRW.
Next month...Australia! M'bro has 4 gigs down there, so it only made sense for me to book a trip to visit, particularly so we can be together for that 10 year anniversary mentioned above. It's going to be beyond grandulous (grand + fabulous) to travel with M'bro, plus I actually even have friends in Ozland! I met some pretty awesome Australians while traveling in Peru last fall. I've forced them to be my penpals over the past year, and now I'll actually get to see them in person again. You're welcome, Australian penpals.
And that is that. Month 5 begins this week. How?
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