New Obsession: Lindsey Stirling

Holy smokes!  Never have I ever ran into a piece of music that I had to pause because I couldn't wait to start talking about it!

May I introduce you to Lindsey Stirling!

Isn't she the cutest thing?  This picture's from her Facebook music page.

This song, "Crystallize" was my first impression.  I don't know if you're a fan of dubstep or violins, but I hope you appreciate the mix of the two.

My friend Kyla posted the link to my Facebook wall, and I had to share!  I started to look up a few of her other pieces.  Here are my favorites.

"Spontaneous Me"
"Electric Daisy Violin"

Man, you can tell just by the few few moments of watching her on these videos, this girl loves what she does.  I can't help being enamored and the tiniest bit jealous at the same time.  I took violin instruction for 7 years then messed around with improv in music groups during my four years of college, but I never reached this level of comfort or freedom with my instrument.  Lindsey's got mad skills, and I feel like a part of myself has found this rare chance to come alive in her performances.  (I'll even point out these especially and delightfully nerdy videos to prove my point of how I feel we're distant kindred spirits: The Zelda theme and Lord of the Rings.)  If you're looking for even more wow factor, check out her taped audition for Barrage which is a large group of fabulous dancing fiddlers who blew my socks off at our first meeting.

Now, if you'll pardon me, I have to go listen to the my new favorite cover of "Party Rock Anthem" one more time before I go to sleep and dream happy dreams with an awesome soundtrack. Ahh, the interlude sends me soaring!  What a uniquely sweet voice for this typically harder song.  Dang, I gotta get back to playing more music soon.

One more thing, because I know you were wondering, she does have sheet music available for some of her most popular pieces!  Check it out here!

It's the little things

And I thought the international food section at the super market got me excited before!  Now it's my country's food that's foreign.  Hooray for peanut butter, Cheetos, steak sauce, maple syrup, elbow macaroni, dill pickles, and Campbell's!

While waiting for a table at Petra in Itaewon, my friends and I wandered into a grocery store to kill time inside instead of in the cold.  This one beautiful aisle was instantly the best discovery of the week.

New Experience: Acupuncture and cupping

A few weekends ago, I was with two of my friends wondering if I would continue taking Korean lessons, if I was able to finish my huge American breakfast, and if acupuncture would help my sore neck and shoulders.  I ended up learning all of those answers within 2 hours when I found myself skipping Korean class in a doctor's waiting room with my friend Jason looking through cosmetic surgery books.

This is a mark left from the cupping about ten minutes after the procedure.

I hate needles.  Well, I thought I did.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure I still do.  But I've been hyping myself up on getting laser hair removal, I'm seriously considering getting a tattoo, and I'd been toying with the idea of acupuncture for a while.  Really, everything happened too fast for me to get freaked out.  Jason said he'd go with me if I wanted him to, there wasn't much of a line for the doctor, and then, before I knew it, I was ushered into the changing room then lying face first on a bench and explaining where my soreness was to the acupuncturist.

Go figure, but the needles just felt like little needles.  Actually, once they were in, I couldn't feel them at all as long as I didn't move.  I did move at one point, just to see if I could feel them, and I immediately regretted it.  I'm pretty sure my moving readjusted one of the needles to an angle it wasn't meant to rest at. 

It was pretty neat to be forced to lie there quietly.  There was a heat lamp above me (I felt like a lizard), and piano music around me.  Heck, I was paying to nap, I might as well take advantage of it!  My friend Holly has fallen asleep during acupuncture before, and I was really hoping that would happen to me, but it didn't happen.  I guess I've got a reason to try it again.

This was taken two days after the procedure.

I hadn't expected it to get any cupping, but it made sense once I saw it was coming.  After taking the needles out, the doctor placed four small glass cups on my back and used a pump to create a suction that lifted my skin and blood away from my body.  It's designed to suck out blood that's been contaminated by the released toxins.  It also seriously encourages blood flow to the treated area to bring about faster or better healing.  This part felt strange and it hurt a little, but I liked it in the way a really hard massage or a deep scratching on an itchy head feels good.

Once I was all finished, I moved my muscles around to see if I felt any difference.  I didn't detect any sudden benefit.  In fact, Jason and I both said that we felt like our muscles were warm and ready for a deep tissue massage.  To this day, we're both pretty sure that a massage would have sealed the affects of what we were going for.

I'm interested to see what regular visits or treatment in a different area would do for me.  I would probably go again.

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Have you ever tried acupuncture?  Any other stories about what it was like?  And what about cupping?  It was completely foreign to me until two weeks ago!

A little bit of Insa-dong

I'm definitely going to revisit this place and this topic, but I wanted to show you a couple of cool things my friend Kara and I saw while wandering around the popular tourist section of Insa-dong a month ago.

I believe that this is the only Starbucks in the world without the English words on the front of the building.  The big people at Insa-dong want as little English as possible on this street to encourage a more traditional Korean experience as you walk about admiring kitschy souvenirs.

I don't like hanging around idols all that much, but these things brought in from other Asian countries intrigue me to no end.

One of these things is not like the other...

Who knew Korea liked clocks?!

Really, really pretty clocks.

These two were having fun.

And this little gem of a place had been hiding down a side street near a tea shop with a very suspicious tender.  She didn't seem to pleased when I stopped and started snapping at the bamboo with my camera.

The Transient Community

Today I said good bye to my good friend Sam.  He leaves Korea in 3 days to start a new life in San Fransisco.  Amanda, my "older sister" who encouraged me so much in my decision to come here, leaves in about 3 weeks.  Five of my co-workers including two of my best friends from work will be finishing up their contracts and heading back to The West next weekend.

I don't know when I'll see these people again, and I'm pretty sad about it.

While new people are coming in to fill the empty teaching positions left behind, the good byes I'm saying now are much more pungent than the hellos that are on their way (as my friend Drew said once).

When my family lived in Puerto Rico near the Naval base, my mom had to say good bye to many dear friends who were on the island for only three years before moving to a new area to serve.  She's told me that you make friends fast in those circumstances.  The hourglass sand doesn't wait.  But, even though it sucks having to part ways, you're both better for having taken the risk and making the most of the time you had.

The reunions I have when I return home will be great, but today I imagined myself  falling into my family's arms and weeping for the family I've left behind.

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"Homecoming" - Kanye West

"Home" - Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

"Coming Home" - Diddy - Dirty Money

Best Bible Study group Evarr!
Leaving these people?  Not okay.

6-year-old Affection

Instead of getting to deal with priceless moments like these, I got a homemade love present from Judy last week.

I felt kinda bad heading toward the teachers' lounge trash can, but I knew it couldn't stay in my locker forever...  Thankfully it's the thought that counts.

My own Pinterest fail

I don't know if you've seen these kinds of pictures...

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Well, I'm afraid I get to add my own mistake to the collection.

Here is what I was going for.

via Pinterest via The Worldwide Gourmet

Oven-dried strawberries.  Just spread the cut berries on a baking sheet and let them dehydrate at 100° for 3 hours.  How can you mess that up, right?

Voila.

Granted, I was using a toaster oven instead of a real oven, and I didn't have any baking sheets so I used what I thought would be the next best thing.  It would seem that pie tins don't have the same effect.
The little guys were burnt, mushy, but still halfway delicious.  I gobbled up all but the blackest ones so I wouldn't completely waste the strawberries.  I'll wait to try this one again till I'm in the States.

Valuminumtimes Day

via Etsy

It's that time of year again, and, instead of looking through every romance-themed article on the internet, I'll share with you a few things I really like right now.

I really enjoy shopping at Forever 21 on Garosufil.  They always play top songs from home with some edgy K-Pop mixed in with Pheonix and Katy Perry.  Being around the styles, the colors, and the music makes me feel very much like I'm back in America, and I often feel a little bummed when I have to leave because I feel like I'm leaving home again.  But hey, I found something I really like when I was there this past weekend!

Behold my mad modeling skills, photography prowess, technological savviness, and the dress I bought.  (Sorry for overwhelming you with so much awesome so suddenly.)

I got on a huge fern kick this week when I started drafting up more ideas for my tattoo concept.  I like ferns a lot, but I hadn't been seriously considering them as ink material until now.  This picture's from the site for Canadian Biodiversity, by the way.

Here's a sketch of the tattoo main idea that's been holding steady since late 2009.

One more recently formed relationship: Me + Royal Milk Tea
It's light, sweet, frothy, spiced, and delicious.  I'm already wondering when my next overpriced cup is going to be.  (This one was from Little Jakob's off Garosugil.  Sinsa is the place for awesome stuff.)

All the way from Korea, Happy Valentine's Day, friends!
I recommend you celebrate with the cinematic excellence of Teen Girl Squad or with reading up on the true and traditional story of Saint Valentine.  I myself will be watching Monsoon Wedding with a girl friend here.

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By the way, Valentine's Day seemed rather silly to me before getting to date my awesome and studly boyfriend Caleb.  Unfortunately, all the commercialism hyping up this holiday isn't doing much for me now since I'm far away from him.  (Neither Google Maps nor Mapquest were able to calculate the distance when I tried to check just now. Must be pretty dang far.)  So, I'll look forward to whatever 2013 will bring, and I'll hang tight with the single ladies here in Korea till I see my man again.

All of that was an effort to explain why I wasn't gushing about roses and romance.  I love Caleb fiercely and dearly, and I am very much in love and glad to be, but I think Valentine's Day is best when celebrated with your significant other.  So this year?  Meh.

A small conversation with a girl in the bathroom

One of the aspects of my hagwon* that impressed me the most during the interview process was the close relationships the teachers are able and encouraged to have with their students.  Today I had the pleasure of making a new acquaintance when I went into the third floor girls' bathroom, coughed, then went about with what one usually does in the bathroom. From the stall beside me, I heard one of the student's voices.

"Jaime?"
"Oh, no.  This is Lindsay Teacher.  Who are you?"
"I am Daisy."
"Nice to meet you, Daisy."

"Nice to meet you ...Teacher."

...

"Ok, well, see you later, Daisy."
"Good bye, Teacher."

I walked out shaking my head and laughing to myself.

Fill in the Blank Friday : One more post about blogging

My recent post in which I answered some questions from Felicia had me warmed up for today's writing.  Once again here's a fun Fill in the Blank Friday questionnaire from Lauren at The Little Things We Do.  Feel free to join over at her blog and play along.

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1.  I started my blog because   I wanted to have an easier way to journal.  I always liked looking back on what I'd written in my journal books, but I prefer typing.  Why not move my daily inner musings to the internet for anyone to peruse over?

2.   One thing I love seeing on other blogs is vulnerability.  The stories from Good Woman Project have been such an inspiration to be open with my story so others can be open with theirs.  I also like simple DIY tutorials, pretty pictures, and humor (Hyperbole and a Half, anyone?).

3.  Something I love about blogging is having an outlet to express myself and to practice writing.  As a verbal processor, speaking or writing helps me think through what's in my mind, and sometimes writing here just helps me unwind.  And, if I were to go back to school and get a masters, I think I'd like to study creative nonfiction or journalism.  I know that I'm just an amateur writer, and maybe this will always be just a hobby, but I would love to get better at crafting stories.

4. A favorite blog post of mine is probably the crazy story of how I met Mr. Gene and was convinced to write out his Vietnam War book for him.  It's one of my favorite stories of my life, and I'm really glad I got to share it with you all.

1. How we met
2. One of his stories, "Bart"
3. Another of his stories, "The Purple Heart?"
4. One of our sweet conversations
5. The victory at the end!

Honorable mentions to go one of my collection of stories from my students, an interaction with a customer at Office Depot, a short-lived relationship with an HP representative, and the story of God's movement at a D-Now weekend I helped with.

5. Something my friends in real life know about me that I've never before mentioned on my blog is I'm about 5'6", I smile a lot, and I tend to walk quickly.  I know those are pretty boring pieces of information, but I was having a hard time thinking of things I haven't mentioned here before.

6.  My new favorite blogs to read are Korea: Matt-Chu Teacher - I met Matt in Korean class, and we hit it off and became buds.  I knew this guy was pretty cool in real life, but when I found his blog, I was introduced to a completely new side of him.  Just this morning I was lol-ing out loud at his most recent post.  You should check it out.  I promise you won't be disappointed.  Aaand, Moon to Moon is a recent photo blog find that gives me my hippie fix.

7.  Some things I tend to avoid doing on my blog are slander and hippos.  Ha!

An apology to my family, the Church

I have a confession to make.

I have despised the Church.  I have judged and condemned instead of judging for discernment.  I have let pride and self-righteousness build up in my heart toward church musicians, Christian bloggers, and well-known Christian leaders.  I preach grace, and I will till the day I die, but I have not been practicing it fully.  I'm so thankful that I never got around to blogging about the things that I was thinking, but it was all secretly active and scornful in my heart.

 

On the Holy Spirit's wheel, I'm going to change.

Here's to repentance.  Here's to an open heart and a shrewd mind that does not lend an ear nor a tweet to gossip.  Here's to building up the precious Bride of Christ and to not insulting her not-to-messed-with Bridegroom.  Here's to protecting Her vulnerability and to furthering a safe community within Her.  Here's to practicing what I know to be important.

Dear Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Rob Bell, and Bill Gothard, the Mills Chapel Baptist Church choir, the worship leaders at Bryan College's chapel, the countless others,
I'm sorry.  I'm sorry for condemning you in my mind for not living up to my standards, for hurting my feelings, or for not loving Jesus the way I thought you should.  I know that we won't always agree on things, but we all seek to serve the same God.  As long as we've got the Apostle's Creed in common, you are my brother or my sister, and I'm going to live like it from now on.

Blogging is fun!

I started blogging in 2006 when I got to college and wanted to have an outlet for my thoughts and ramblings.  My goals have changed many times since I began my 17-year-old filter-less ramblings  While I've axed a good bit (including a lot of vanity when I learned that followers is not to be equated with value), I've gained a lot that I wouldn't have ever gotten to experience otherwise.

Blog friends are a blast!

I love getting to check up on Millie's life through her lovely writing.  I think it's so cool that I've gotten to know more about Danae and Kelly only after we're not at school together anymore.  And, one of my favorites, I got to meet Felicia!  We met through one of Lauren Hartman's "Fill in the Blank Friday" posts.  I remember noticing pretty quickly that she was Christian, she loved reading, she was an awesome nerd, and we'd probably get along great in real life.  Now, we semi-regularly send snail mail letters and talk about all kinds of things.  And, it all started on the internet!  (How's that for online safety?  Don't worry, if we ever do meet in person, I'll be sure to take some pepper spray in my purse just in case she turns out to be a killer.)  (Ha!)

Felicia recently posted an award to her blog for a couple of her friends, and she's asked them to respond by answering some fun questions.  So, this one's for you, Fee!

1. If you could invite any 10 people in the world to a dinner party; fictional or real, dead or alive, famous or not, who would you invite?

Whoever else comes, I'd want Caleb, Millie, and Sweeny there with me.  They are my best friends and my favorite sounding boards, and I know that they'd have a good time asking questions of the other people at the table.  (In fact, if I were only allowed one dinner party in my life, it would have to include my conversation friends from college plus Caleb.  Those were the best lunch times ever.)

I'm hoping that time is unlimited, because I know I could spend days with just one of these people, but I'd really like to get to talk with Malcolm Gladwell, my grandmother (Nazi Germany survivor), my great-great grandfather on my father's side who came from Scotland, Clark Lee a reporter on the US forces in the Pacific during WW II (though I've already read his book) or Mr. Gene my Vietnam War veteran friend, Rosa Parks, Francis Chan, and King David.  Or Moses.  Or Mary the mother of Jesus.  Gah, there's so many!

2. What is something that you have always wanted to do but have never had the chance to?

At the risk of sounding girly and superficial, but also understanding that this is a completely valid desire, I have to say that I've always wanted to get married.

3.What skill do you wish you had and why?

I wish I could play piano like a beast.  I can already play well enough to satisfy myself, but I wish I could do more.  It's just so stinkin' fun, and I know there's more out there!

4. What's your most favorite dessert that you can never resist?

Is this a trick question?  Dessert = irresistible.

But really, ice cream, cheese cake, dump cake, pineapple upside down cake, and warm and chocolately mud pie.  Those are my favorites.

5. You're stranded on a deserted island - what 3 books do you take with you?

I would possibly take Shantaram.  I'm reading it now, and I absolutely love it.  It's about a convict who escapes to India and the life he lives there.  Absolutely riveting and very well-written.  I know that I would bring my Bible as well, but I don't know what would be my third book.  Maybe something light and engaging?  Is it cheating to say the Harry Potter series?

6. You're at Subway - what do you get on your sandwich? 

Chicken bacon ranch with cheese, all the veggies, and Sun Chips.  On the sandwich.

7. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? What do you do now?

I wanted to be an artist.  I remember dressing up as one for career day.  My mom is an artist, and she helped make my simple costume.  She painted a painter's pallet for me to carry around. Thanks, Mom.

Now, I teach Korean preschool, elementary, and middle school students.  My preschoolers get a lot of opportunity to test out their artistic creativity, but it makes me sad to see how much they feel the need to copy something or risk doing poorly.

8. What is your nervous habit?

I still pick at my cuticles sometimes, but I've come very far from the nail biter I used to be.

9. If a blog were having a giveaway, what would really entice you to enter?

I would enter if I saw that there was a good chance I'd win, if international shipping was available, or if it was something too sweet to miss out on.

10. If you were a colour, which colour would you be? (See that Canadian spelling there?  Felicia's my first real friend from Canada!  :D )

I think I'd either be a fresh orange or a vibrant green.

11. What is your favourite quote and/or verse?

Ah, tough one.  I'd have to go either with Zepheniah 3:17

"The LORD your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior.  He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." (NASB)

or Hoseah 6:3

"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD.  His going forth is as certain as the dawn, and He will come to us like the rain.  Like the spring rain watering the earth." (NASB)

or this:

BONUS: What is your favorite thing about snail mail? :D

My favorite thing about snail mail is receiving it and remembering that people from home love me and care about me.  It's always super thoughtful and super appreciated.

A little about food

Korean food's pretty scrumptious, and there are many, many other cuisines to choose from for dinner options, but I often get the hankering for a real American burger.  They just don't make them here like they do back home.  Another food craving?  American breakfast.  The Koreans often eat kimchi and rice for breakfast (much like lunch), and while I'll go for scrambled eggs or yogurt instead, nothing beats that solid spread of toast, sausage, pancakes, and grits.  Thankfully, about 20 minutes from my house lies one of my favorite restaurants: Butterfinger Pancakes.  It's open almost all night, and it serves the best breakfast food I've had since being home.

Two of my friends headed over there last Saturday.  Here's what we got.  It tasted just like America, and I cannot wait to go and to eat this mouth watering food again.

The Hwacheon Ice Festival

During the two hour bus ride to Hwacheon, I realized that getting outside of Seoul to participate in some of the culture festivals of the smaller towns is one of my absolute favorite things to do in Korea.  My last time outside of the city was for the Andong Maskdance Festival with Holly and Kyla.  This time, 8 of my foreign friends and I headed out to freeze ourselves with the avid fish fans of Korea.

I didn't take my camera with me, I wanted to travel light this time, but I was snapping away with my iPod camera.  So, here's a mediocre quality photo tour of our own tour of Hwacheon the Ice Festival!

While I couldn't tell much of a difference, this was my first hint that there was something special about this place.

I loved these decorative fish from the first moment I saw one.  How beautiful and quirky are they?  I kept my eyes peeled for one I could take home with me, but they all seemed to be in use, and I never saw any for sale.

I got pretty jealous of the personality this town has.

 Finally in at the festival, we were amused to see that there was a designated ice fishing area for foreigners.  We reasoned it was to give the foreigners a better chance with the fish without the experienced Koreans hooking them all.

Have you ever had chestnuts?  I sing about them every Christmas season, but I'd never eaten one until coming to Korea where they're a popular street food snack.  At the festival, one of the salesmen stopped me.  "Oh, oh.  Wait a moment.  So beautiful.  Here."  Ha!  Sure, I'll accept your compliment and the free sample.  Even when they aren't attached to flattery, I think chestnuts are pretty good.

Never had I ever been in an ice tunnel.  I'm a long way from Atlanta, eh?

Out on the ice, there were all kinds of ice vehicles.  This one's an ice bike with the front wheel removed so it can slide easier.

This one's some snow mobile... thing.  (Felicia, can you help me find a name for it?)  And, yes, that's a man with a giant blue bear head driving it.  Here's a short video clip of the craziness!  Elsewhere on the ice were bumper tubes, small scooters you maneuvered with ice picks, and mini 4-Wheelers all designed to be mobile on the ice.  I never knew they made such things!

I got to hang out in an ice maze before ever having been in a traditional American corn maze.  I just think that's slightly ironic.

Snowmen!

Here are the Koreans ice fishing.  They've carved out holes in the ice for them to drop their fishing hooks into.  Those are the poles in the top right of the photo.  I think the net-like things are to help them grab the fish on its way out of the hole.  And, as you can see in the lower pictures, this makes for an excellent date, but you gotta be careful not to fall in.

Here is the much less exciting foreigner section of the ice fishing.

Well, who knew, there's another kind of ice fishing!  It involves getting thigh deep in icy water wearing only a t-shirt and gym shorts while you reach down and catch river trout with your bare hands.  I repeat: In Freezing Water.

You have your shirt tucked into your shorts so that, when you do catch a fish, you can slip it into your shirt where it's safe and out of the way while you use your free hands to catch more fish.  This all sounded absolutely ludicrous to me, and I watched this first round of fishing in riveted disbelief.

We who are about to freeze salute you!

I find it totally hilarious (after the fact), so I'm going to let you in on my thought process as I watched all this.  First, I need to tell you that, long before any of this started going on, Corey had been telling us about his first time at a Korean ice festival.  He told us about the horror of freezing your toes off and the disgusting feeling of having live, wriggling fish up against your tummy.  All I could say was, "Why in the world would you ever do that?"  When I turned to tell him this, however, I saw that he was far away at the sign up counter.  He listed himself and his fiancee Melissa on the roster for the 2:00 fishing.  I kept expressing my disbelief to my friends next to me, but one by one, they followed to the sign up counter.  Eventually, I was the only one not signed up.  I was reasoning with everyone that someone needed to be the photographer, right?  It made perfect sense for me to not participate in this craziness.  Not long after saying that, though, I realized that I didn't want to be the only one not sharing in this wild story.  So, against my better judgement, I signed up.
So, watching this 1:00 fishing session was pretty significant.  I was going to see what it was all about, what techniques the people were using, and was it really as bad as I thought.  Melissa and I stood together and shared our commentary which went something like this:

"Oh my gosh, look at how freezing they must be!  They're only wearing shorts and a t-shirt?!  Oh gosh, they're getting all wet.  We'll definitely have to take off all our clothes when we change to make sure none of it gets wet.  Woah, wait.  All our clothes?  Um... even our bras?  Wooooah snap, our bras?!?  Are you going to wear yours?  I don't want to wear mine!  What if it gets wet?  And what if I get fish slime on it?  Who wants to wear fish slime for the rest of the day?  Oh dang, oh dang.  No bra.  But, um, gosh, it sure is cold there in the icy water!  This is not going to end well, is it?"

Really, I think it's so funny how my focus completely changed in the span of two minutes. When I agreed to go on this trip, I'd had no idea wading around in the icy water was even a possibility, but I really wished I'd been prepared like the Korean girls there who were definitely wearing something under their t-shirts.

TMI?  Maybe.  But hilarious?  I hope you think so.

Here you can see some of the fellas with their fish.

Well, here's what happened when it was our turn for the fishing.  We ladies (seven of us foreigners) headed into the girls' locker room and discretely stripped amid all the Koreans who were able to keep their underwears on.  My friend Kaylee even had one of the Korean ladies tell her that she needed to keep her bra on. (Sorry, ma'am, but we really, really can't do that.)  I'm not sure which of us had this idea, but when we went to put on our t-shirts, we saw that there was very large and convenient screen print on the back.  We decided to risk looking like idiots to preserve our modesty and wore our shirts backwards with the design on our fronts.  Walking out of the locker room into the large group of Koreans who knew what they were doing was slightly humiliating, and explaining our wacky team uniforms to our guy friends was just weird, but, by this time, I was starting to refocus on the frigid temperatures outside.

Holly and I clung to each other in the snow as we made our way to the pool.  We got out onto the ledge surrounding the water and sat down when instructed.  We'd already used pretty colorful language to describe our predicament out in the ice while we were waiting, so when we finally hopped into the water, all I had left was undignified screams.  All that pep talk about taking hold of this experience the likes of Obama would never get to enjoy melted away as my toes started to go numb.

Surprisingly, after the initial shock subsided, and that only took a few moments, my mind went into hyper competition mode.  Amid the intermittent squeals of pain and unbelief, I had become a hunter, and my sights were dead set on those fishes.  I was going to catch one, dang it, and I did not want to get out of that water until I had the satisfaction of getting one of those slimy creatures down my shirt.  (Ha!  I never thought I'd say a sentence like that!)  I grabbed, grazed, and missed many times, I even followed the merciful Korean man's nod in the direction of the best place to catch the fish, but, alas and to my utter shame and dismay, I never was able to wrap my hands around one of those fishes.  Bummed but not embarrassed (I had stayed in the water longer than all my friends), I was helped out of the pool by smiling Korean men at the water's edge.  I shuffled toward the warming up hut in floppy sandals and watched my feet like a hawk to make sure I didn't step on anything I couldn't feel through the numbness.

In the warming up hut my friends were already sitting in steaming water pools.  Corey had caught two fish, and Katie had caught one.  They let me take pictures with their fish.


After cleaning up and dressing again, one of the festival staff members passed some extra fish to us.  We ended up with 14 trout and headed out to find a place where we could get them prepared for eating.

Sushimi style was one option, for those who like their fish raw.

We decided to go with cooked fish.  This man killed and prepared our 14 fish for a small fee (less than a dollar per fish, I believe).

After waiting about 15 minutes per fish, we opened up the foil and dug in with wooden chopsticks.  Oh guys, the fish was delicious!  It was some of the most flavorful fish I've ever had in my life, and it's definitely my favorite from what I can remember ever eating.

This one turned out pretty beautifully, so we named him before we ate him.  As normal people do, you know.

Here's a little Korean folklore for you, by the way, before we head out of the festival.

After eating our delicious fish, we made our way back to the center of town to catch a bus back to Seoul.  The festival mascot said gave us a happy farewell.

Looks like a good time was had by all.

This was one of the ice sculptures near the entrance.  It's pretty incredible what you can do with this stuff, don't you think?

Closer to town, we passed this street food stand.  These fish are like fried waffle batter filled with sweet bean paste or with custard.  I bought 3 of the custard fishes for about 80 cents.

Ah, these pretty decorations still looked lovely in the dim light, and they were a fanciful addition to our walk back to the bust station.  It had been a great day.  The weather had been gentle, the fishing had been a blast, and hanging with my friends outside of Seoul was a wonderful way to spend the weekend.  I'm really glad I went.