Reboot

I am definitely an outdoor cat. I was off camping for less than 24 hours, but boy, it did a body good. It was a perfect fall weekend--crisp and breezy, but sunny--and, while the leaves seem to be just dying and dropping rather than erupting in color, even the brown-orange adds a tinge of interest to the already-fetching mountains. While I can't get enough of summer, fall runs a close second, and I think part of my funk of late was due to feeling excluded from this satisfying sensory festival. There are no leaves to be kicked (or their scent savored), no pumpkins to be selected and brought home with a jug of cider and a white bag of fried cakes (glazed, sugar, and plain--1 each), no vivid canopy to revel in on the drive down Merchants Rd or even sun-warmed car to bask in after my morning walk. But for a few hours this weekend, I was reminded that Nature is still having its poignant party, and not entirely without me.

Since inviting me on the trip, Terrie has repeatedly warned me that Jarasum Island, site of the annual International Jazz Festival, is not that natural and I shouldn't expect wilderness. I was picturing Woodstock, and instead got a pleasant campsite backed by squash arbors, on a grassy (for Korea) island encircled by mountains. When we first arrived, there was music from 2 stages competing for our attention, but the cacophany was still infinitely preferable that the same 3 pop songs in enless rotation. Terrie's husband and kids put me back in a reality I haven't contacted in way too long, and demonstrated that kids are the same everywhere, regardless of language and culture. Well, not entirely the same....it was really refreshing to see her boys, ages 5 and 7, play happily with neither adult direction nor a carload of toys. They were absent for over an hour this morning, playing with other kids at the park playground, and when they wanted to get Cokes, Terrie gave them 1000 won and sent them across the field to the 7-11. Korea has its share of overbearing parents, to be sure, but the smothering paranoia that's become the norm for "good parenting" in the US has, fortunately, stayed there.

Anyway, camping...that was very much the same, too. We sat around the campfire, eating shish kebabs and hot dogs, dodging smoke & sparks, talking and shivering, and (in their case) drinking beer. Terrie filled me in on a lot of things I didn't know about at school (the English classroom rumor is--at this point--true!) and talked culture, politics, and the drawbacks of Seoul. She reminded me of 2 important things: that, however annoying they may be, the students are still children and should be understood as such; and that judging Korea on the basis of Seoul is like judging the US on the basis of NYC. She also told me that everyone will want to have a go at me and my teaching, and I should accept their criticism but ultimately do what I believe is right and what works for me. I'm really glad I got her as my main co-teacher!

They had a pretty sweet setup--Terrie's husband sounds like a bit of a gear hound--and Terrie said all I should bring was my clothes. I brought a fleece sleeping bag liner, too, since I tend to freeze at night, but I won't be bringing it next time! There were air pillows and the loveliest plush sleeping bags, but the very best thing was the floor-lining electric blanket! Apparently that's a Korean standard, the camp version of their traditional floor heating. Terrie says it's because Korea has 4 distinct seasons--that phrase should be a drinking game--but I don't care why; being warm as toast all night was a new and thoroughly enjoyable camping experience!

And for all of you who thought I'd be spending a year in the third world, the campground even had hot water and flush toilets, not to mention free showers if I'd been of a mind.

I was up before 7, but with 20 minutes or so to boot up, was able to thoroughly enjoy the sunny quiet. Terrie's husband went for a walk with the boys, while she & I wandered the island the other way. Dirt & grass to walk on, water full of lily pads & ducks, misty mountains, little red trees, flowers, squash, a gradually warming sun, and--being Korea--giant neon spiders...it was glorious. After breakfast--ramen for all of us, kimchi for them--we sat in the sun in that delicious autumn air, talking and feasting on the scenery and watching her husband pack up the gear (an hour+ process) until it was time to walk me to the train station. (Terrie's husband and younger son set up camp on Friday; I came with her & her older son, who'd both had school yesterday, on Saturday evening; and they were all going back in their overstuffed car while I paid the whopping $4 for the train ride) All this, just over an hour outside of Seoul. After Sokcho, I'd vowed that I need to get out of Seoul more often, and again, I see why. It's cheap, quick, easy, and so crucial to mental health.