This past weekend was another three day weekend in Korea. There seem to be a bunch of holidays mashed into late summer and autumn. I'm not complaining. Four members of KCC (Kwangmyeong Climbing Club) and me went down to Seonunsan late Thursday night to avoid traffic. The next morning we headed out to the crag and there were already more people there that morning than when I was last there in the summer. I was able to warm up on a 5.11a and Senaegi (5.11b) my "project" from the summer.
I dn't remember I first run on Zoo, but it wasn't pretty. I had forgotten most of the moves and, at best, was still shaky on the moves after the crux. One thing that I do remember is that I had no problem pulling through the crux. Last time it felt like a stopper move for me, now it was just a hard move. After I came down I put my shoes in line where I was eight people back.
On a side note I met a Canadian woman named Heidi (who is much cooler than the last Canadian woman I met). Heidi has been in Korea for six years and speaks Korean pretty well. She's also a strong climber. She was working her project called 무지개 (5.12c) which means rainbow in Korean. She was having problems with the crux and got a bit emotional about it. She had been working on it for a long time and just couldn't put it together. When you want something that bad and you're really going for it but it just doesn't happen some people break down. I turn into a brat. :-P
We talked for a bit about her problems with the moves. I'd like to think I helped get Heidi snap out of the funk because later on in the day she sent "Rainbow". And with style. I was reading my book and looked up and to see her at the crux. Once she got past it, Heidi was literally slapping each hold after that. She was beaming as she was being lowered and told me later on she was so determined to finish that she was ready to pull off rocks rather than fall. That's my kind of girl...er woman!
I only had one more chance on Zoo that day but had a good burn on it. I felt groggy when I woke up the next morning and generally not in a real chipper mood. One of the guys in my tent drank too much of the local mountain berry wine, soju, and whatever else the previous night. He was puking all night, luckily not in the tent. We ended up getting a late start and leaving him at camp cause he was in no condition to climb. Adding to my morning funk, I don't need people telling me that this is going to be my day to send. It just puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on me.
I fell on the crux move of Senaegi and immediately Gwang-woo asks me if my condition is bad. I know he means well, but damn, I didn't sleep well cause someone was puking right outside my tent all night and my "warmup" is a bit harder than I want it to be because we got up there late. And I had to wait behind ten people before I could get on Zoo. It wasn't shaping up to be a good day.
After waiting for nearly two hours I got on Zoo and failed miserably. I didn't even finish it. I was totally frustrated, pissed off and acting bratty. After lunch, my stomach felt funny and I was tired. It would be at least two hours before my next attempt on Zoo. And I was told we would be leaving that night to avoid traffic coming back to the Seoul area. So, I more try and that was it. I napped for a before my turn and woke up to find one person just hang dogging it the whole time. My negativity was nearly boiling over.
I found something on my iPod to calm me down. Something timeless. Something that brought back some good old memories. Adam and Brian would know exactly what I'm talking about. Let me go off on a tangent for a moment.
Speedy J has an album called Public Energy No. 1. I'll be the first to say I hate the title. I saw him perfrom it live in Toronto back when I used to drive up there for techno parties. That party was hands down the best party ever, since both he and Richie Hawtin killed it. I will also admit that when I first listened to it in 1997 I wasn't ready for it. I shelved it until I moved to San Francisco and broke it out one night when me, Adam and Brian were partying. I popped it in and ...well listen to it for yourselves. It's techno unlike any out there and because of that, timeless. If I remember correctly that night was also the inspiration for the lyrics of The Betty Expedition song The Conversation.
OK. Back to the main point of this long and dragged out entry. I was listening to Speedy J and zoning out. My turn finally came up. I worked the bottom moves up to the rest point before the crux. I sat there and shook out my arms for a while then went into the crux. My hand sequence was off so instead of panicking and trying to pull through I down climbed back to the rest and shook out my arms again. After that I pulled through the crux without and problem and then my body went into auto pilot after that. All the problems I had before weren't problems anymore. I flowed through the post crux moves. Even on the little snag that I hit, I stayed relatively calm. I missed the last big hold, but because my feet were in a good postion and I wasn't feeling pumped I came back down for a second and then found it on the next move. After I clipped the anchor I wsn't sure what I felt. It wasn't just joy or relief but also a sense of calm. It was the first 5.12a I've ever sent.
I think lately I've been getting too into the ratings. That night I talked with Eric, a guy from Colorado. I asked him what the highest grade was. He told me Chris Sharma did something he rated as 5.15b. Now here's the thing the 5.15b was a 250 foot climb. Most climbing ropes are about 180 feet long, so most routes can't be longer than 90 feet without turning into a multipitch climb. I'm guessing Zoo is a 70 to 80 feet long. The point is this. 5.15b doesn't mean Sharma is climbing on miniscule holds. It means he did an endurance route or a route with consistant 5.14 moves.
Zoo is basically 5.11a and 5.11b moves until the crux where it gets really hard to the finish. The point that Eric made and the thing I love most about climbing is no matter what level you're climbing at you should just keep pushing yourself and having fun. It doesn't matter whether you're working a 5.11a or 5.14a. The emotional involvment is the same. The ratings are there as a guide and shouldn't be taken so seriously.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Seonusan: Take 2
I've got a little over two weeks to train before heading back down to Seonusan and see if I can pull through the crux of Zoo and to the finish. Mind you, I've never climbed a 5.12 anywhere, even in the gym. Gym climbing being of course much easier since the holds are marked and you don't waste your time searching for good and and feet placement.
A few things are on my mind right now. I'm pretty sure my endurance is much better than it was last time I was there, but I'm not sure I've gotten any stronger. The crux is a burly move and/or I haven't figured out a way to do it much better. By late September the temperature should be more comfortable so I'm hoping for a less greasy feel. This hasn't been an issue until just recently: Can I maintain a training schedule, get enough sleep, stop going out until the wee hours of the morning? This sucks to admit, but I'm shaky on all three right now. I only climbed once last week and yesterday's bouldering session wasn't much to talk about. I've been tired since coming back from vacation (and there are other factors in this) and just based on last weekend and plans coming together for this weekend, can I stay away from Hongdae? What happened to my near OCD with cllimbing?
Monday, August 04, 2008
Five days in Seonunsan
Just got back from Seonunsan last night and my fingers are rocked, literally and figuratively. Pulling on sharp limestone for five days has calloused over some parts of my fingers while leaving the tips (particularly of both ring fingers) raw. The trip was a reminder of how much fun it is to be a climbing bum. The only snag in trip was the difficulty in communicating with my partner who is Korean. Nice guy but looking at each other and smiling gets old after a while. He made the trip happen so I was really appreciate of that. It's just tough when you're stuck with someone who you can't really talk to.
I sent another 11b called Saenaegi (I'm not sure what that means in Korean) and started to work on a 12a called Zoo. Getting up to the crux isn't a problem, it's the crux itself and the finish that I can't put together. My rope got worked over an edge and I may have to cut a few meters off of one end. It's only the third time I've taken it out this year. As long as the rest of it holds until the end of this season I'll be satisfied. I'm giving my fingers a full day of rest finally and will start training harder tomorrow. I'm going to start bouldering again to try to get a bit stronger and work my fingers more regularly.
I sent another 11b called Saenaegi (I'm not sure what that means in Korean) and started to work on a 12a called Zoo. Getting up to the crux isn't a problem, it's the crux itself and the finish that I can't put together. My rope got worked over an edge and I may have to cut a few meters off of one end. It's only the third time I've taken it out this year. As long as the rest of it holds until the end of this season I'll be satisfied. I'm giving my fingers a full day of rest finally and will start training harder tomorrow. I'm going to start bouldering again to try to get a bit stronger and work my fingers more regularly.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Opera House
There were sheets of rain falling on the ROK this weekend. I woke up at 6:20 Saturday morning to huge rain drops pitter pattering on my air conditioning unit. I packed up the rest of my gear and set out in the rain, to catch the bus and meet up with the other members of the climbing club. I saw the 6638 roll by and cursed out loud. Once I got to the bus stop I made the choice to walk down to the main intersection where I had more options to catch a bus to the climbing wall and meeting point. I was already running a little late when I saw the 22,the bus that takes me directly there and another bus I could tranfer from roll by. My pants were completely wet by the time I got to the corner but luckily the 12 rolled in about a minute after I got there. Maybe I would make it just on time.
I got off the bus and walked to where I thought we were meeting but I didn't see anyone there. On the last trip we had chartered a bus and met in the parking lot by the gym. I walked through the parking lot towards the climbing wall but still didn't see anyone. Then I got smart and checked my phone - two missed calls. I called the older woman known to me as older bread sister because she always brings some sort of pastry to the wall as a snack. The only thing I understood in her say was climbing center because she said it in English. When I got there there were five people standing under the overhung artificial wall to keep out of the rain. That's why there was no bus, it was only the six of us.
We (I mean they) quickly decided to go to Opera House to climb. I read about Opera House on the Korea On The Rocks website and heard it stayed dry in the rain but wasn't so sure about staying dry in a thunderstorm. It took us about five hours to drive down there cause we overshot and had to backtrack. The weather alternated between rain, heavy rain, what looked like a brewing tornado and clear blue skies. It seemed like the highway was the border between ominous gray clouds and this beautiful blue sky. I think we were in the eye of the storm at that point.
We rolled into Maisan park just in time to hear a huge clap of thunder and get caught in a downpour. We strapped on our backpacks and headed up the hill. Thankfully the hike was short but at the top of the hill we had to deal with class three scramble. Yay, wet mossy rocks and semi-muddy shoes. Adventure time! Fortunately the scramble was uneventful and all reached the top in one piece. Soon afterwards we reached the crag. It was strange walking past the roof of the crag and into the overhang where everything was dry. There was already another group there climbing away.
We unpacked our gear and I had the pleasure of warming up on a pumpy 10c. Needless to say I didn't onsight. I took once before finishing the climb. After a bit of rest I onsighted a 10b and the guys were getting me pumped up for my project, Maisan Tango. It's an overhung 11b with huge moves, especially for me. My first run on it went well until I hit the crux and bailed. I couldn't get back on the wall because it was so overhung and had to come down. My second run was a bit of an improvement because I hit the crux move, but still wasn't feeling confident because I hung from the rope before the crux, after the crux and felt like I did the move horribly. I finished the route and came down.
I saw someone send Maisan Tango before my third try and got pumped up for it. Everything was feeling good and I was dialed in. I knew where the holds were, where to rest and was pretty focused. I hit the crux move with relative ease and clipped into the quickdraw. After that things got a bit hairy. I lost my concentration, got confused whether or not I wanted three or four fingers in the pocket, went too deep into it and forgot where my feet needed to be. I lost my grip on the final hold and peeled off. It was getting close to the end of the day and I wasn't sure how much more I had in me.
After a shorter rest than I wanted I went for it, this time more determined, and feeling the moves more than knowing them. I hit the crux move and skipped clipping into the last quickdraw. It would've been a clean fall but falling the last thing on my mind. I gastoned the final pocket, made sure my fingers didn't drift too far in, hit the last move then hung the rope. Woo!!! The next day I did it again, better and cleaner than the previous day. I even clipped the last quickdraw. On the drive home I was trying to think of the last time I sent an 11b. Man, the last time. It was most likely when I was in Thailand. Feels like a lifetime ago.
I got off the bus and walked to where I thought we were meeting but I didn't see anyone there. On the last trip we had chartered a bus and met in the parking lot by the gym. I walked through the parking lot towards the climbing wall but still didn't see anyone. Then I got smart and checked my phone - two missed calls. I called the older woman known to me as older bread sister because she always brings some sort of pastry to the wall as a snack. The only thing I understood in her say was climbing center because she said it in English. When I got there there were five people standing under the overhung artificial wall to keep out of the rain. That's why there was no bus, it was only the six of us.
We (I mean they) quickly decided to go to Opera House to climb. I read about Opera House on the Korea On The Rocks website and heard it stayed dry in the rain but wasn't so sure about staying dry in a thunderstorm. It took us about five hours to drive down there cause we overshot and had to backtrack. The weather alternated between rain, heavy rain, what looked like a brewing tornado and clear blue skies. It seemed like the highway was the border between ominous gray clouds and this beautiful blue sky. I think we were in the eye of the storm at that point.
We rolled into Maisan park just in time to hear a huge clap of thunder and get caught in a downpour. We strapped on our backpacks and headed up the hill. Thankfully the hike was short but at the top of the hill we had to deal with class three scramble. Yay, wet mossy rocks and semi-muddy shoes. Adventure time! Fortunately the scramble was uneventful and all reached the top in one piece. Soon afterwards we reached the crag. It was strange walking past the roof of the crag and into the overhang where everything was dry. There was already another group there climbing away.
We unpacked our gear and I had the pleasure of warming up on a pumpy 10c. Needless to say I didn't onsight. I took once before finishing the climb. After a bit of rest I onsighted a 10b and the guys were getting me pumped up for my project, Maisan Tango. It's an overhung 11b with huge moves, especially for me. My first run on it went well until I hit the crux and bailed. I couldn't get back on the wall because it was so overhung and had to come down. My second run was a bit of an improvement because I hit the crux move, but still wasn't feeling confident because I hung from the rope before the crux, after the crux and felt like I did the move horribly. I finished the route and came down.
I saw someone send Maisan Tango before my third try and got pumped up for it. Everything was feeling good and I was dialed in. I knew where the holds were, where to rest and was pretty focused. I hit the crux move with relative ease and clipped into the quickdraw. After that things got a bit hairy. I lost my concentration, got confused whether or not I wanted three or four fingers in the pocket, went too deep into it and forgot where my feet needed to be. I lost my grip on the final hold and peeled off. It was getting close to the end of the day and I wasn't sure how much more I had in me.
After a shorter rest than I wanted I went for it, this time more determined, and feeling the moves more than knowing them. I hit the crux move and skipped clipping into the last quickdraw. It would've been a clean fall but falling the last thing on my mind. I gastoned the final pocket, made sure my fingers didn't drift too far in, hit the last move then hung the rope. Woo!!! The next day I did it again, better and cleaner than the previous day. I even clipped the last quickdraw. On the drive home I was trying to think of the last time I sent an 11b. Man, the last time. It was most likely when I was in Thailand. Feels like a lifetime ago.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Mud Festival '08
Just came back from the 10th annual Mud Festival in Boryeong. Tom, Katy and I took the KTX train from Yongsan station in Seoul. It took about three hours to get down there. We met up with a large group of people we shared a room with. The group was supposed to be about 35 people in a minbak, a Korean room without beds. It was basic cheap and did it's job. The place was right around the corner from the beach and in the middle of the muddiness.
Once we arrived I changed into my shorts and the three of us walked up and down the main strip checking things out. There was a huge air slide, mud prison, mud wrestling, mud people and, well mud in general. There was no nakedness that I saw, but lots of skin showing and lots of eye candy. We had lunch at a galbi (ribs) restaurant where Katy and I ahd our first beer of the day. After lunch Tom ran off to do some stuff with Adventure Korea - a tour group Tom's been on a lot of tours with. Katy and I walked along the strip then decided it was better to go jump in the water for a while. We got covered in mud after that and watched a band comprised of about ten military guys rocking out on the stage. Just before their last song we jumped back into the water to rinse off.
After that it was a series of more beer, each of us running into people we knew, finding the group we were sharing the room with, then meeting up with Tom. We got muddy again, this time with Tom, then went back and chilled with the group on the beach. When the sun started to set we went back to the room to change then set out for dinner. Katy, Tom and I were joined by Tom's brother, Anthony and his girlfriend, Amy. We found the foreigner restaurant but heard nothing but bad things about it. We walked for a while and found nothing but seafood restaurants. We were a bit weary about eating there because of the apparent low quality of the fish and the food prep being sketchy at best. We decided to head back to the galbi place but it took us a while cause Tom's a well known guy (We stopped a lot so Tom could talk to people. Since he is leaving Korea in a month we gave him a pass.)
continued
By the time we rolled into the restaurant they were completely packed and it would have taken us a while to get a table. We walked along the main strip but had no luck finding a good restaurant that wasn't packed. We even tried the pizza place but the wait on a pizza was horrendous. We found the other restaurant that had pizza and samgyapsal (basically really fatty pork. The direct translation is three layers of fat). Turns out they were out of samgyapsal. We were desperate and hungry so we ordered two pajeon (Korean pizza but not really pizza) and Katy had ramen. And we got a bottle of soju to calm everyone down. Soju and food went quickly and we got out of there and met up on the beach for fireworks.
The collective group had no idea about what time the firesworks started. Usually firworks start when it gets dark. It had been dark for a while and no signs of fireworks. Then we thought 10pm. Beers and beers later still no fireworks. There was talking and talking with people I didn't know from the group and a girl from the room telling people I was her future husband (jokingly, I think) then said girl and I innocently laying down in the sand for a while. That's as far as that got. In hindsight. COOL! I'm glad it didn't go any further. My bladded was ready to burst so I went to the toilet and what do you know. The fireworks start going off.
It was a good show. The fireworks made the sea light up in reds, blues, purples and greens. The finally was spectacular and everyone felt it wa a great way to end a mud filled day.
Once we arrived I changed into my shorts and the three of us walked up and down the main strip checking things out. There was a huge air slide, mud prison, mud wrestling, mud people and, well mud in general. There was no nakedness that I saw, but lots of skin showing and lots of eye candy. We had lunch at a galbi (ribs) restaurant where Katy and I ahd our first beer of the day. After lunch Tom ran off to do some stuff with Adventure Korea - a tour group Tom's been on a lot of tours with. Katy and I walked along the strip then decided it was better to go jump in the water for a while. We got covered in mud after that and watched a band comprised of about ten military guys rocking out on the stage. Just before their last song we jumped back into the water to rinse off.
After that it was a series of more beer, each of us running into people we knew, finding the group we were sharing the room with, then meeting up with Tom. We got muddy again, this time with Tom, then went back and chilled with the group on the beach. When the sun started to set we went back to the room to change then set out for dinner. Katy, Tom and I were joined by Tom's brother, Anthony and his girlfriend, Amy. We found the foreigner restaurant but heard nothing but bad things about it. We walked for a while and found nothing but seafood restaurants. We were a bit weary about eating there because of the apparent low quality of the fish and the food prep being sketchy at best. We decided to head back to the galbi place but it took us a while cause Tom's a well known guy (We stopped a lot so Tom could talk to people. Since he is leaving Korea in a month we gave him a pass.)
continued
By the time we rolled into the restaurant they were completely packed and it would have taken us a while to get a table. We walked along the main strip but had no luck finding a good restaurant that wasn't packed. We even tried the pizza place but the wait on a pizza was horrendous. We found the other restaurant that had pizza and samgyapsal (basically really fatty pork. The direct translation is three layers of fat). Turns out they were out of samgyapsal. We were desperate and hungry so we ordered two pajeon (Korean pizza but not really pizza) and Katy had ramen. And we got a bottle of soju to calm everyone down. Soju and food went quickly and we got out of there and met up on the beach for fireworks.
The collective group had no idea about what time the firesworks started. Usually firworks start when it gets dark. It had been dark for a while and no signs of fireworks. Then we thought 10pm. Beers and beers later still no fireworks. There was talking and talking with people I didn't know from the group and a girl from the room telling people I was her future husband (jokingly, I think) then said girl and I innocently laying down in the sand for a while. That's as far as that got. In hindsight. COOL! I'm glad it didn't go any further. My bladded was ready to burst so I went to the toilet and what do you know. The fireworks start going off.
It was a good show. The fireworks made the sea light up in reds, blues, purples and greens. The finally was spectacular and everyone felt it wa a great way to end a mud filled day.
Friday, June 27, 2008
GEAR! GEAR! GEAR!
In my three years on and two years off of climbing I've owned the bare minimum (shoes, harness, belay device, chalk bag and crash pad). It was probably because I started climbing in a gym and stuck to bouldering for a long time. It wasn't my trip to New Zealand that I really got into sport climbing and Thailand made me realize how sweet it is to be a climbing bum.
In the last month I bought a new backpack - big enough to carry a rope and small enough to not look like I'm backpacking through Europe. I also bought a helmet, although now I wish I bought a sturdier one, six quickdraws and a daisy chain. Since yesterday, I am the proud new owner of, not one but, two ropes. The first is now my dedicated outdoor rope. I think it's pretty bad ass rope. It's soft to the touch, feels thinner than 10.2 mm but is extremely gentle when taking a fall. This is opposed to the Sterling rope I bought yesterday. It's strictly the climbing wall rope. There's nothing really fancy about it. It does the job - stopping me from splattering on the ground. Even when being lowered on the Sterling rope I could feel how much more unforgiving it can be (compared to the Beal rope) when taking a fall on it. If you want to read more about fall ratings and impact force of a rope check out Beal's website. It's pretty interesting, to me at least. There's a cool video to explain the physics of it too.
The main reason I got the two ropes was because I didn't want to abuse the Beal rope. The Beal rope is also 60 meters long, much longer than necessary when climbing at an artificial wall. The Sterling rope is 50 meters. I wanted to get a 40 meter rope but what the hell. I actually wasn't even planning on getting another rope. I've been dirt poor the past two weeks because of all the purchases. Oh! I forgot. I bought some light hikers for hikes to the crag too. So, yeah, two weeks of being poor but climbing!
I mentioned to one of the guys at the climbing wall near my school I wanted to buy another shorter rope for the climbing wall. He said he'd keep an ear out for anyone wanting to but a 100 meter rope and splitting it with me. That was Tuesday night. When I got to the wall yesterday, one of the guys who works there (Seung-woo) said he had my rope in a locker. I told him that was impossible cause my rope was in my backpack. He pulled the rope out of a locker, gave it to me and told me it was my rope.
What happened was this. Last week one of the women I climb with had to replace her rope. It was core shot (frayed to the point of seeing the core of the rope). That's not as bad as it sounds. The core is still pretty strong, but once you see it, it's time to retire the rope. I assume she went ahead and bought the 100 meter rope and split it with the intention of selling the other half to someone else. Turns out the guy I spoke to mentioned it to her and now I have two ropes.
I'm quite happy with all my spending recently because I've used everything twice while climbing around Korea and will be using it to climb at Seonunsan this weekend. Plus it looks like, for better or worse, I'll be staying in Korea for my summer break. This is mostly due to the fact that summer break starts in three week. I'll have to do an English camp for a week or two during the break and I still don't have any information as to when and how long I'll actually be off from school. Instead of feeling frustrated (which is how I've been feeling all week anyways) I've put the word out to folks at the climbing wall I'll be here for the summer break. I hope to hit up the major crags without worrying about crowds. A couple of weeks of being a climbing bum around Korea will do me good. Now all I have to do is start looking at starting up my trad rack.
In the last month I bought a new backpack - big enough to carry a rope and small enough to not look like I'm backpacking through Europe. I also bought a helmet, although now I wish I bought a sturdier one, six quickdraws and a daisy chain. Since yesterday, I am the proud new owner of, not one but, two ropes. The first is now my dedicated outdoor rope. I think it's pretty bad ass rope. It's soft to the touch, feels thinner than 10.2 mm but is extremely gentle when taking a fall. This is opposed to the Sterling rope I bought yesterday. It's strictly the climbing wall rope. There's nothing really fancy about it. It does the job - stopping me from splattering on the ground. Even when being lowered on the Sterling rope I could feel how much more unforgiving it can be (compared to the Beal rope) when taking a fall on it. If you want to read more about fall ratings and impact force of a rope check out Beal's website. It's pretty interesting, to me at least. There's a cool video to explain the physics of it too.
The main reason I got the two ropes was because I didn't want to abuse the Beal rope. The Beal rope is also 60 meters long, much longer than necessary when climbing at an artificial wall. The Sterling rope is 50 meters. I wanted to get a 40 meter rope but what the hell. I actually wasn't even planning on getting another rope. I've been dirt poor the past two weeks because of all the purchases. Oh! I forgot. I bought some light hikers for hikes to the crag too. So, yeah, two weeks of being poor but climbing!
I mentioned to one of the guys at the climbing wall near my school I wanted to buy another shorter rope for the climbing wall. He said he'd keep an ear out for anyone wanting to but a 100 meter rope and splitting it with me. That was Tuesday night. When I got to the wall yesterday, one of the guys who works there (Seung-woo) said he had my rope in a locker. I told him that was impossible cause my rope was in my backpack. He pulled the rope out of a locker, gave it to me and told me it was my rope.
What happened was this. Last week one of the women I climb with had to replace her rope. It was core shot (frayed to the point of seeing the core of the rope). That's not as bad as it sounds. The core is still pretty strong, but once you see it, it's time to retire the rope. I assume she went ahead and bought the 100 meter rope and split it with the intention of selling the other half to someone else. Turns out the guy I spoke to mentioned it to her and now I have two ropes.
I'm quite happy with all my spending recently because I've used everything twice while climbing around Korea and will be using it to climb at Seonunsan this weekend. Plus it looks like, for better or worse, I'll be staying in Korea for my summer break. This is mostly due to the fact that summer break starts in three week. I'll have to do an English camp for a week or two during the break and I still don't have any information as to when and how long I'll actually be off from school. Instead of feeling frustrated (which is how I've been feeling all week anyways) I've put the word out to folks at the climbing wall I'll be here for the summer break. I hope to hit up the major crags without worrying about crowds. A couple of weeks of being a climbing bum around Korea will do me good. Now all I have to do is start looking at starting up my trad rack.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The old man is snoring
This week the rainy season started in Korea. It's been cloudy and raining on and off since Monday. The good thing is the rain has brought some cooler temperatures in. I was having some trouble sleeping because of the heat. Yes, I have AC in my room but my throat has been sensitive lately (due to pollution?) and I didn't want to deal with a dry throat and what felt like a cold coming on. I didn't get to sleep until after 3am on Monday and face Monday morning on less than four hours of sleep. My students didn't irritate me nearly as much as I expected. I tried going to sleep in the male teacher's lounge but it just wasn't going to happen.
At the end of the day a bunch of students decided to skip my class. They're one of the worst classes (mostly because any class with this certain co-teacher is a bad class) and not that smart. Here's an example of the sheer stupidity of the students skipping class. Now one would think that if one if to skip class then one would not draw attention to oneself. Two dumb ass girls waved to me as they were standing outside of class and didn't show up. Supposedly, Korea has the highest average IQ in the world. This is another case where I don't care how well people test if they don't have any common sense. Repeat. Common sense is something most Koreans sorely lacking. I too could do well on a test if I memorized a bunch of stuff without understanding it. In fact I once did this on an exam and got an A without understanding a damn thing.
Recently,when I make comments like this bashing Koreans I wonder if I'm being an "ugly American." hmmmm
Where was I? Oh right. After work on Monday I went home and napped in my 80 plus degree room with 100% humidity in the air. I hate napping in those situations cause I usually wake up feeling more tired and confused. On top of all that I couldn't fall asleep until after 1am. That was two nights in a row where I drank warm milk to help me fall asleep.
Tuesday night I climbed at the artificial outdoor wall near my school. There is one route that I haven't been able to finish. I thought I had enough in me but I didn't. And I did a really bad thing. I let the rope stay behind my leg when I took a lead fall. It whipped me upside down and gave me a little rope burn. I forgot to bring long pants that day too, which would've probably cut down on the burn. Lesson relearned.
Random thoughts:
Patrick's niece N'shai (pronounced Nuh-shay) is visiting for the summer. It's kind of nice having an American teen around (she's 12). In her first two weeks here she's made some great observations. When asked about the differences between here and the U.S. she mentioned the spitting. People don't spit right where you're walking in the U.S. Cue the guy making the ever so pleasant throat clearing sound and spitting three times on the sidewalk at a busy intersection. Shai also mentioned how uncomfortable women here looked in their heels. "They have this miserable look on their face." But for some reason they feel they have to wear them. It's because trends dictate what you think, feel and wear here. Herd mentality. I'll stop before I feel "ugly."
Two posts in one morning?!? WTF?!?!
They're having a national test today. Because of the test, I don't have classes today. I assume it's some kind of aptitude test. I'm sure they'll all do very well cause they've been studying to pass the test. 'Nuff said.
At the end of the day a bunch of students decided to skip my class. They're one of the worst classes (mostly because any class with this certain co-teacher is a bad class) and not that smart. Here's an example of the sheer stupidity of the students skipping class. Now one would think that if one if to skip class then one would not draw attention to oneself. Two dumb ass girls waved to me as they were standing outside of class and didn't show up. Supposedly, Korea has the highest average IQ in the world. This is another case where I don't care how well people test if they don't have any common sense. Repeat. Common sense is something most Koreans sorely lacking. I too could do well on a test if I memorized a bunch of stuff without understanding it. In fact I once did this on an exam and got an A without understanding a damn thing.
Recently,when I make comments like this bashing Koreans I wonder if I'm being an "ugly American." hmmmm
Where was I? Oh right. After work on Monday I went home and napped in my 80 plus degree room with 100% humidity in the air. I hate napping in those situations cause I usually wake up feeling more tired and confused. On top of all that I couldn't fall asleep until after 1am. That was two nights in a row where I drank warm milk to help me fall asleep.
Tuesday night I climbed at the artificial outdoor wall near my school. There is one route that I haven't been able to finish. I thought I had enough in me but I didn't. And I did a really bad thing. I let the rope stay behind my leg when I took a lead fall. It whipped me upside down and gave me a little rope burn. I forgot to bring long pants that day too, which would've probably cut down on the burn. Lesson relearned.
Random thoughts:
Patrick's niece N'shai (pronounced Nuh-shay) is visiting for the summer. It's kind of nice having an American teen around (she's 12). In her first two weeks here she's made some great observations. When asked about the differences between here and the U.S. she mentioned the spitting. People don't spit right where you're walking in the U.S. Cue the guy making the ever so pleasant throat clearing sound and spitting three times on the sidewalk at a busy intersection. Shai also mentioned how uncomfortable women here looked in their heels. "They have this miserable look on their face." But for some reason they feel they have to wear them. It's because trends dictate what you think, feel and wear here. Herd mentality. I'll stop before I feel "ugly."
Two posts in one morning?!? WTF?!?!
They're having a national test today. Because of the test, I don't have classes today. I assume it's some kind of aptitude test. I'm sure they'll all do very well cause they've been studying to pass the test. 'Nuff said.
A month of sports
It's been over a month since the last post. I can't for the life of me remember what's been happening. It's been blur of me following the Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA playoffs. Unfortunately, because of the time difference I only got to watch a few basketball games here and there. The best moment was watching game six of the Stanley Cup finals live because I didn't have to go to work that day. The worst thing about that - I was having an argument on the phone while trying to watch the third period. In hindsight I should have hung up and left it at that. It only diminished my joy for getting to watch the championship game a little bit. For the record, I'm glad I was wrong about doubting Osgood.
I'm ecstatic the Wings finally came through after being a dominant team every year in the regular season only to fail come playoff time. Babcock is like the Bill Cowher of hockey. He's one of those coaches you'd like on your bench cause he looks like he'd jump on the ice and take down an opposing player. There was one Steelers game when Pittsburgh threw an interception in overtime and the defensive player was streaking down the side lines where Cowher was standing. He was absolutely pissed off watching the guy run toward him. Cowher had his fist clenched so tight he was white knuckling. There was a split second there where it looked like Cowher was going to clothesline the guy. Those two guys are guy you play for cause you know they've got your back.
One last thing regarding sports: Go Boston! HA! HA! (Nelson voice) Kobe and the Lakers blew it. I love it when Kobe fails. MJ you are not. I hated Jordan til near the end of his career and I missed him when he retired. Basketball wasn't the same for years afterward. MJ dominated in a way that Kobe never will. And he won championships with way more gumpy white guys (Bill Wellington and Luc Longley) than Kobe has had to play with. I'll never root for Kobe and I won't miss him when he's gone.
Now baseball has the stage all on its own. The Giants aren't that bad and the Tigers are a huge disappointment. Ok. The sports tangent is over.
I'm ecstatic the Wings finally came through after being a dominant team every year in the regular season only to fail come playoff time. Babcock is like the Bill Cowher of hockey. He's one of those coaches you'd like on your bench cause he looks like he'd jump on the ice and take down an opposing player. There was one Steelers game when Pittsburgh threw an interception in overtime and the defensive player was streaking down the side lines where Cowher was standing. He was absolutely pissed off watching the guy run toward him. Cowher had his fist clenched so tight he was white knuckling. There was a split second there where it looked like Cowher was going to clothesline the guy. Those two guys are guy you play for cause you know they've got your back.
One last thing regarding sports: Go Boston! HA! HA! (Nelson voice) Kobe and the Lakers blew it. I love it when Kobe fails. MJ you are not. I hated Jordan til near the end of his career and I missed him when he retired. Basketball wasn't the same for years afterward. MJ dominated in a way that Kobe never will. And he won championships with way more gumpy white guys (Bill Wellington and Luc Longley) than Kobe has had to play with. I'll never root for Kobe and I won't miss him when he's gone.
Now baseball has the stage all on its own. The Giants aren't that bad and the Tigers are a huge disappointment. Ok. The sports tangent is over.
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