Last Post

...from Korea.

I'm leaving in 35 minutes to board a plane to take me back to the US.

This whole thing has been...

...intense. 

I need a while to process everything, but I'm looking forward to going home, seeing Ingrid, my parents, my sister and my cat.

And eat an entire box of Cheez-its.

This blog thing has been tough, but I hope you enjoyed reading the first part of my big adventure.  I'm off to Minneapolis next to intern with Urban Ventures, an inner-city ministry.  I hope you find the time to keep reading!

Much lo-

I mean, Ahn-yong has-eyo!

---CJ

Dear Tyler

Dear Tyler,

I did in fact meet Moses Chung.

Let me explain:

We were in Pusan City and we were eating raw fish and live squid around a line of tables.  I was towards the end of the table, and Moses was towards the head.  Suddenly, I hear Hannah Watters (who is sitting near Moses) say, "Tyler Nesper?"

Instantly, I am like, "WTF, mate?"

Moses looks down at me, "You know Tyler Nesper?"

I drop the raw fish product out of my gaping mouth.  "YES!  How do you know him?!"

He then went on to explain how he knew you and we talked about you during your Freshman year for a while.  Not much of a story, but what a WEIRD, SMALL WORLD, eh?

The proof?  I guess Moses already told you.

---CJ

Bad News

I'm back from my exausting week-long trip around South Korea. It was a lot of fun, but I unfortunately lost my wallet during the week.

Luckily for those of you that know me, I kept most of my cards in my pocket, so I didn't lose my credit card, my driver's license, or bus pass.

I did lose my international student ID card, my ATM card, and some money.

Bad news bears...

Luckily, I canceled my ATM card and my student ID card won't be good for much. The money is just money... still, what a sucky way to end out the trip, huh?

Anyway, the rest of the trip was great. I'm super tired, but I wanted to tell you all that I'm super excited to come home and see you. In three days.

Peace,

---CJ

Pusan

Hey everyone,

I'm sorry for the lack of posting as of late; we've been on our end-of-the-program tour of the country of South Korea, and I haven't had much time to get on a computer. Here's the skinny:

-I tried live squid and fish eyeballs at a resturant in Pusan City. It was pretty good, except the squid's tentecles kept on sucking to the roof of my mouth as I ate it.

-The group stayed at a Buddhist temple over night last night. We joined the monks for morning worship at 3 AM and then learned about Buddhist culture and religion. We even experiences some meditation and learned how they bow. It was an intense time, and I really enjoyed it. It was located right in the middle of a national park in SK, and so the beauty of the mountains was breath-taking. I'm not going to become a Buddhist any time soon, but it was interesting to talk to them about what they believe and how they live out their worldviews.

-The bumps are back. I think, and this is a big "I THINK", but I think that the bumps come from eating some sort of fish. We ate lunch at a church in Pusan and I unfortunately developed a serious case of red bumps on the undersides of my arms. When showing it to Dr. Shim, the conversation went like this:

Me: Dr. Shim, look at this food allergy. I think-
Dr. Shim: That's not food allergy.
Me: (suprised) What?
Dr. Shim: That's the early stage of HIV.


Hardy-har, har, Dr. Shim. What a jokester.

Anyway, I'm just going to let it fade out now.

That's all I have for now, see you in a few days (literally),

---CJ

1000 Person

Whoever the 1000th person is that visits this blog...

COMMENT!~

Not a lot of time to talk, because I'm leaving for Pusan City in half an hour and I haven't even packed, but I wanted to get you all some pictures before I left.  I'm excited to go to Pusan, because it's the city I was born in.  I'm not expecting anyone to welcome me or anything, but I think it'll help put some completion on my big adventure.

Here's a picture of the group in front of the Han river.  The sparklers are for the Korean holiday (I'm not sure which one).

This is me and the pottery master trying to make traditional Korean ceramics.  Unfortunately, I had no idea what I was doing.

While this is an ordinary looking photo, it actually is a photo of the group of us in North Korea past the DMZ line.  We had to take a picture in this building... or else be arrested.  It was intense.  We also saw some North Korean tourists leave the building before we could get near.

Me at the B-boy concert.  Looking the opposite of ghetto.

Peace out everyone,

---CJ

Update

Whew!  These last few days have been crazy busy; I get done with each day and go straight to bed-regardless of what time it is.  I haven't had a whole lot of time to process it all.  I realize that most of you don't know what my daily schedule is, so here's a simple breakdown:

7:00 AM-Wake up for showering, etc.

8:00 AM-Breakfast

9:00 AM-Class on Korean Culture

12:00 PM-Lunch

Afternoon/evening: Excursion/Field Trip into Seoul

11-12 PM: Bed

I realize that it's more specific in the morning, but each afternoon and evening has been pretty different thus far.

Two nights ago we went to a show called Ballerina Meets B-Boy , this crazy theatrical performance that is nothing but non-stop breakdancing for an hour and half.  I was hesitant at first, but after seeing some of the stuff these people could do, I forgot all about my reluctance to go to the show.

Last night we went to the house of representatives and then to the largest church in the world.  It wasn't a fantastic afternoon, but pretty educational.

I've got to go make breakfast now. Peace out everyone!

---CJ