hello my friends...
sorry it's taken me so long to write again...i had grand plans of writing about the adventures of my four months of travel and to fully answer questions so many people have posed...but each time i consider writing, indeed each time i sit down to write, i find that each day had its own adventures, the sights and sounds and feelings~trying to translate from my mind's eye the trees in the forest of therma, on the island of samothraki in greece or trying to recapture the day with vahna and her friends in the tiny village outside siem reap in cambodia, oh...so many things are in my heart and in my mind! it's overwhelming to try and discern what to share in a big group email, and what to retain for when someone asks or for when i'm in conversation with someone and a memory pushes forth in my mind. to share it all is to write a book, and i'm not sure you all want to read a book online at the moment.
so instead, i'll just try to pick up from now, and give you the link to my photos (it's in the upper left-hand corner of the orange column). although even still, not all the photos are there...i think laos is complete..ish...but thailand is not, and cambodia certainly is not...my images of greece are there, but i hope to add those that kostas took at the psytrance festival, as he was much more faithful to capturing images and i was much more faithful to dancing, and the ones jeo took at the lazy dayz free performance festival, as i took none.
and so...please~ask what you want to know...maybe the images will inspire questions...but to answer the query, "what did you do?"...well, my answer to that cannot begin to be complete in one writing, and in trying i feel like i'm simply glazing over a truly wonderful four months of my life and cheating the inquirer of a worthwhile answer.
okay, so here we are...january in korea. i've been back about five weeks now, and they have been filled with adjustments, pleasures, disappointments, discoveries, new beginnings and chapters closing.
i've moved from my little neighborhood in the northwest of seoul and also from my former employer. my new surroundings are considered a "suburb" of seoul...a suburb for me conjures images of my brother's colonial-style home in a new development...manicured lawns and minivans. but a suburb of seoul is quite a different matter. bundang, this city, is a haven of the newly-rich masses of seoul. new apartment buildings scrape the sky and stand like dominoes along the big roads and riverways. it's an interesting change for me...i now know that it is possible to get many imported things in korea, just not in the places i've been before. you can get feta and marzipan if you pay the price, right in the carrefour that's just a five-minute walk from cherryvill office-tel, my new home. i'm a minute from the subway, five from the 11-cinema movie theatre, and have a rainier espresso just a minute away. bundang is southeast of seoul, which makes it easier to get away from the sprawling city and out in to the coutnryside, which is where i want to spend my time this year. last year i worked six days a week, making it impossible to leave the city. this year i'll work just five, so i can hop on a bus and venture around the rest of the this country~the real korea.
when i began this chapter of my life a year and a half ago, i made a conscious effort to "come in naked," to shed the layers of my persona, of what had defined me, and to allow the new experience of living in asia to surround me and permeate my being. in this, i learned what elements of my life's chapters prior to korea are truly important to me, and that i want to carry with me as i travel along. and so, in returning, my life and my home are a deeper reflection of who i am, what matters to me, what brings me peace and pleasure. i sent some clothes, my pottery, my herbs and books. i brought jewelry, more books, and deeper insight. i've created a sanctuary for myself within my apartment. to my local friends, it is at once surprising and obvious. it's as if i filled in some blanks, answered some questions.
i'm not completely settled in yet, still have to get the photos online, print some more to decorate my refrigerator, get in touch with some old friends, and be more faithful with my yoga practice. but it's a beginning. and along this journey, that's all i can do is...well...stay true..and keep learning and growing.
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