After that we were of to Geungjo, I think that's how it spelled, for a very nice lunch at a Korean buffet, and then to a the premiere Buddhist temple. The temple was absolutely exquisite. It was set high up in the mountains and the weather was that not quite stormy but windy and cloudy gray that the Midwest is so very often, something I miss a bit. The temple itself had apparently been burned to the ground in the 1590 by the Japanese, but was restored in the 1960's to it's current splendor. I wandered off into the woods and up and down little hills fondling tree's and foliage and in general ditching the little group I was in. I was pretty sure they weren't going to leave without me so I didn't feel to bad about it.

On they way up we drove by the ocean, which was quite nice and cool. There was drumming coming from somewhere and I wandered off with Jenny trying to find the source but without much luck. Since lunch had been tasty but full of much drinking (tea, cinnamon punch, rice punch, coffee, and barley water) I needed to make a pit stop and got to experience my first eastern toilet. For anyone who has not yet experience the eastern toilet, it is a room, with a door that goes all the way to the floor. In the middle of the room is a very nice porcelain hole in the ground. That's it. You squat, and well do your business. Oh, the don't provide any toilet paper either but I had the foresight to bring some tissue with me as I anticipated the style of facility (thank you Sarah Kimmel, thank you thank you thank you). After wandering around looking for drums we wandered back to find Mr. Kim sitting happily and munching on some sun dried squid. Um, well, there you have it. Having tasted the sun dried squid I must say it's sort of like a salty ocean flavored beef jerky, I can say I'm not particularly going out of my way to have it again. It wasn't bad but really really chewy, and it had an off putting after bite that I really didn't like.

Interesting thing about driving along the coast line...we went buy a number of shops on near the bay where they sell fish. It's a little one lane that we were driving on, kind of cramped. As we were driving Korean ladies, who were vendors at the fish for sale shops, can up to the car, knocked on the hood and pointed the car toward a space. I thought perhaps they were trying to convey that this was a one way street and we had to park the car, as they came up one right after the other, each pounding on the hood, calling out, and pointing to a space. Turns out, they were trying to encourage us to park the car and buy fish, which I never would have guessed. Ah, if only Barton Fink had thought of that when writing plays. It was really strange, and I felt so silly sitting in the car having fish very forcefully hawked at me in a language I didn't understand.

The ocean was beautiful but cold. I've picked up several rocks for wolf, and a bit of tree bark from the temple as well.

At the temple we aside from seeing the absolutely exquisite architecture colors, and what not, we got to cross over a little bride. Under the bridge was a large pond. In the pond where the biggest koi I have ever seen. They must have been at least 15 to 20 pd fish, just swimming along merrily near the surface much to the delight and amusement of myself and the two other American teachers. The pond also had at least a hundred swimming turtles that made me lament for Jerry who I have not seen in far to long. The turtles swam back and forth chasing after the giant koi and playing with each other, it was really quite unusual.

Anyway, after that I got back to my apartment and have now gone wandering, to the pc cafe from which I currently right.