madness mayhem and zen

So, things in Korea are going smashingly. I wanted to write something here many times last weekend but I was very busy running around Seoul. On Saturday I helped Josh record voices for his text book, which was cool.. I felt like a rock star for like a second. Only with grammar. Danny my boss took us out for some lovely octopus soup as well. Korean food is quite different.. more on that later tho! Ok here is the epic story of my weekend..

Act I Consumerist Shrines

Friday night Janika and Joshua took me to the centre of Seoul to do some shopping. Picture this- 27 different entrances leading to different malls.. each one with about 7 floors, and 100 mini shops in each floor in large cubical like enclosures, and packed with people. Most of this consist of the funkyest fashion I have ever seen! Its kind of like the 50s jettisons era stuff only with brighter gaudeyr colors, and lots of Konglish -- Tee-shirts with praises like "I have a spiritual relationship with God" (with sparkles), "I love Pony" and so on... Stuff that most kids just buy because its English but don't know what it means! I manged to get some boots and stuff, which was hard... a few hours in this place and one starts to feel like your brains are being friskiest with hot sauce. Shopping is very serious here, as everyone is always looking very neat and up to the minute. I love some of the styles tho! Everyone has converse, cargo pants and really big hoodies.. wow! So I am now Koreanized, probably will become more and more so. This I am happy about for its a very comfortable fit. I tried to take some pictures, but the merchants wound't hear of it, I guess they are afraid I am a fashion spy..

Act II Zen temple

Ah! This part I am almost too excited to talk about. You can't talk about It... That is what I leaned on Sunday from the head monk at the Seoul International Zen Center. I attended a meditation period and Dharma lecture, and was totally impressed with everything there. Not only is it in an ancient Beautiful Zen temple that has been standing for much longer than America's existence, but the Korean Zen style is great. It is far less formal than the good old Japanese version... casual Zen? All things are possible in Korea! The main teacher is a rock star guru from America.. He has recently taken over the position of head monk of the temple as the Korean Master has just passed away last month. The American guy is a New Yorker who is fluent in Korean, and has adopted a very Korean attitude. (This means he is tuff, loud, crude, and fiery.) His zen talk was Hilarius but also profound, and punctuated by his frequently hitting the floor with the big stick. (Zen heads know what I mean I think.)

The International part is held in the smaller upstairs shrine room... (No big gomdens in this monastery... only small square cushions about 3 inches thick.. surprisingly comfortable) Downstairs there is a HUGE shrine with 3 enormous golden Buddhas.. I think Koreans come here for more traditional service.. I actually herd them singing tunes to piano music, which would be unheard of in Japan.

After the Zen lecture, I got invited to Dinner with my new foreigner friends and bunches of Koreans, mostly ladies. We went to a highly traditional restaurant, the kind were everyone sits on the heated floor and many many dishes of Kimchi are served. I sat with an all Korean table who were curious about me, and tried all sorts of weird food, everyone shares and eats from like 30 different little dishes together. This place probably hasn't changed for 100s of years, neither have the recipes. Very good stuff! The Korean ladies were very concerned that I drink lots of a strange warm beer... I tell you more about Korean culture as time goes on. The Roshi (Its called something else in Korean of course) came to dinner with us too! He is like a Korean from 600 years ago. I am going to go every Sunday hopefully.
Then back to Ilsan on the Subway, which I took for the first time by myself.. Its about and hour and a half all the way back, but the subways are comfy and heated, plus TV.. quite more sophisticated than in New York. Seoul is also totally safe, unless you are brave enough to wander into the foreigners district...
Here is the website of the Zen center.. http://soback.kornet21.net/~sizc/

Act III Nore-boang
Lights spinningWine flowing
Joshua made me sing lots of songs
I am Avera lavine, I am Jim Morrion, I am Barbie girl.
in a small rented room with 5 friends across from the apartments,
We explore the depths of our souls through Karaoke

Act IV Teaching Ah!
I am too tired from teaching to write more and I have to plan out my lessons for tomorrow! The kids are sweet and giggley and shy, the school is nice and now i must fly. More on that later and picutres to come!

Happy Val Day
Annie