Saying Goodbye to Colin...again...

Colin, Hayoung and I sat in a tea house in Seoul the evening before Colin was to depart from Korea. The tea house was a great find, somewhere in Insadong. There was writing on the walls, proclamations of love, friendship, napkins drawn on and hung around the walls, sometimes covering the pen on plaster. Throughout the tea house were relics of the past. Old metal fans, kitchen knickknacks, and other jetsam of days-gone-by. As sad as I was that Colin would be leaving the next morning, I was lost in thought, thinking about the antiques. They belonged to people at one point, people whom had gone, people whom had stayed and people whom have passed on. This is the natural process, the motion of us all. We're particles bouncing around this earth and all we leave behind are belongings and the memories, some passed into secret, some still held dear by those who knew the owners.
I started thinking about Colin leaving and having to say goodbye at Incheon Airport all over again. It's hard to put into words but I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't him leaving as much as it was me who was leaving.
Colin went home this morning. In the grand scheme of things, what's the difference of me taking him to the airport and saying my goodbye as if he was staying in America and him taking me to the airport at MSP and saying goodbye to me as if I departed for Korea? I guess it's relative to the actually location of the parting, but it felt different this time. I felt guilty. Once again, the only Stanhill in Asia; once again, the only Stanhill away from Home, from culture and the family network that spans the U.S. I feel lonely. I feel like I'm the one who left, saying my goodbye all over again. I miss my brother dearly.
Last night, we stayed at the sauna at the airport (Incheon Airport is sort of awesome that way) and sat in the hot pool, the same way we did the night before he left for China August of 2011. It was all so familiar yet all so different, but why? Colin came to Korea last August a young adult, a college graduate and unsure what the future, a year abroad, would bring. Today, when we hugged before he entered the security area, he left a man, a sure-footed traveler and a master of the path which brought him back to me.
Today, I said goodbye to a brother, a friend and, for the first time, a man. That's enough.
Later today, I'll be picking up my friend Megan and her boyfriend Ben. They'll be staying with me for the remainder of the week as they round Korea visiting their friends who are now teachers like myself. I know Megan from Peace Corps; we were batch 267, Philippines and fellow members of the self-styled "Loser Crew".

Colin in Yecheon...AGAIN!

As I sit here typing this at Yoger Presso, my brother is sitting across from me, reading. This feels like the old days at Hard Times on Riverside, though arguably the cafe is better lit and is playing K-Pop (neither of which are good things). I have seen him three times  this year, a record, damn near. 

I met up with him in 청주 (Cheongju) where he was staying with a Korean friend he met in China. We met up near the bus terminal and we spotted each other from across a busy street. We both went to the nearest crosswalk and as we waited for the lights to change, he was gearing up to dart out into the street as soon as the traffic cleared. I LOVE the way he hugs; it doesn't matter if it's been five days, five months or five days. Before he darted at me like a magnet, his yellow, longish hair waived in the breeze, his torso rocked with energy. The the light turned green. I love the hugs I get every time. 

We spent an evening in Cheongju with his friend, Sunny and then came back to Yecheon together. We have spent time with friend whom he has met before and friends I have made since his last visit last August. Last night, I took him to 안동 (Andong) to see the city to which I will move next month. There, he, Zach and I went to HomePlus (like WalkMart) and then went my Ryan's (the dude in my band) house for some beers and dry, broken up ramen chunks. Once Hayoung got off work, we all went out to 샤브샤브 (shabu shabu), a kind of make-your-own-soup at your table restaurant. Afterwards, my other bandmate Jonno showed up and we all went out to a local park and played guitar for about an hour and a half. I really wanted Colin to hear us play and I think he had a good time (he danced a wild dance to a couple songs). I love playing in public in Korea. Koreans are typically too shy to do it but they always appreciate it if other people are doing it. We drew a bit of a crowd but the best part of all was singing the last song of the night, "The Weight" by The Band, a Korean kid came up to us as sang along with the last chorus. He had no idea what the words were but he was really into the music!

Today, Colin showed me some of his artwork and we're going to go back through and look at the pictures I took in China, I think.

Right now I am happy. That's enough.

Colin in Yecheon...AGAIN!

As I sit here typing this at Yoger Presso, my brother is sitting across from me, reading. This feels like the old days at Hard Times on Riverside, though arguably the cafe is better lit and is playing K-Pop (neither of which are good things). I have seen him three times this year, a record, damn near.
I met up with him in ?? (Cheongju) where he was staying with a Korean friend he met in China. We met up near the bus terminal and we spotted each other from across a busy street. We both went to the nearest crosswalk and as we waited for the lights to change, he was gearing up to dart out into the street as soon as the traffic cleared. I LOVE the way he hugs; it doesn't matter if it's been five days, five months or five days. Before he darted at me like a magnet, his yellow, longish hair waived in the breeze, his torso rocked with energy. The the light turned green. I love the hugs I get every time.
We spent an evening in Cheongju with his friend, Sunny and then came back to Yecheon together. We have spent time with friend whom he has met before and friends I have made since his last visit last August. Last night, I took him to ?? (Andong) to see the city to which I will move next month. There, he, Zach and I went to HomePlus (like WalkMart) and then went my Ryan's (the dude in my band) house for some beers and dry, broken up ramen chunks. Once Hayoung got off work, we all went out to ???? (shabu shabu), a kind of make-your-own-soup at your table restaurant. Afterwards, my other bandmate Jonno showed up and we all went out to a local park and played guitar for about an hour and a half. I really wanted Colin to hear us play and I think he had a good time (he danced a wild dance to a couple songs). I love playing in public in Korea. Koreans are typically too shy to do it but they always appreciate it if other people are doing it. We drew a bit of a crowd but the best part of all was singing the last song of the night, "The Weight" by The Band, a Korean kid came up to us as sang along with the last chorus. He had no idea what the words were but he was really into the music!
Today, Colin showed me some of his artwork and we're going to go back through and look at the pictures I took in China, I think.
Right now I am happy. That's enough.

Summer Vacation - Ready, Set, Sweat!

Summer vacation officially started today for me and my friend Zach, who teaches at the middle school on the same campus as the high school at which I teach. We met up around 11:30 and went to the gym. Now, some of my readers may find this surprising. In fact, I have been going to the gym with some regularity for the last few months (excluding June). I figured that if I spent a modicum of time maintaining my body as much as I spent maintaining my laptop, tablet and phone, I may just live a longer, more comfortable life in the future. There is a community (read free) gym that is very adequate that Zach showed me months back. We spent about 50 minutes sweating our asses off and headed off to one of the local saunas.

I have not spent much time on the blog dwelling about saunas, one of my favorite places to go. Korea has a long and extensive public bathhouse culture. The process is quite relaxing and very rewarding after a long day standing and teaching a bunch of apathetic teenagers (hyperbole). Every sauna has a little different setup but the following is more or less the process: upon entering the men's sauna (남탕), you enter the first of two rooms. This first room is the locker room. You put your shoes in a locker and find a locker for your clothes (sometimes it's assigned). Once as naked as the day you were born, you enter the actual sauna room. There are a series of pools, each one a different temperature, from searing hot to nearly ice cold with assorted personal pools with jets. The pools are not for swimming but for soaking. Some pools are unique in offering different bathing experiences. Some pools are made into a giant brew of rooibos tea while others are artificially mixed with the same minerals and elements as found in the Dead Sea. There is an endless variety of preparing the pools. There are also dry and steam sauna rooms around the perimeter of the pool area. These also vary, with, for example, miserably humid Philippines-style 70 degree C room to dry rooms where the walls and the floor is made of sodium rock and you cook at an even 50 degrees C. After showering with an exfoliating rag at a row of showers, the series of dips begin! Zach and I tend to the following routine: shower, warm pool, cold pool, hot pool, cold pool, steam room, cold pool, shower. And how much is this luxurious experience? About $4.50 each. So far, this morning of health and fitness has cost us just under $5 each.

We then hit up our favorite Korean-style Chinese restaurant for some fried rice and egg drop soup. We're now at $9 each for the day's activities, and we head to our favorite cafe, Yoger Presso, which is where I find myself now.

I'm not sure how this summer vacation will go but I like where it's been so far. My brother will be here in less than a week and Megan (whom I know from Peace Corps) and her boyfriend will be arriving the evening of the 31st and staying until the 3rd or 4th. I go back to school on the 2nd but I'll be able to spend some quality time with them before my apartment ceases to be a transient motel and life in Yecheon goes back to its quiet ebb and flow...until I move to Andong later in August!