Off to Seoul

I have been trying to kep as consisted a record as possible. There has been limited time as of late, but here is a quick run through of some activities that we have been able to enjoy to conclude week three and more into our final days here in South Korea...

Tuesday 29th: The trip tp Meudung Mountain was wonderful. We ended up driving up most of the mountain, and recieved special military clearence to head to the upper parts of the mountain. There are military bases at the top, luckily there is a rotary member who is an ex or quite possible current sergeant in the Korean military. We were told that there are few Koreans who had ventured as far as we had that day...the top of the 70,000,000 year old mountain was beautiful with many rocks that had been grown into pilliars...the attached pictures are of myself climbing the mountain as well as relaxing on one of the cliffs...as we reached the top pf the mountain it began to rain slightly, a truly serene moment as we decended the mountain amongst rainclouds...

Wednesday 30th: on wednesday morning we visited the local convention center which had been recently (2002) been built at a cost around $99 million dollars. The city of Gwanju is preparing to be a lead city on the world and the Kimdaejung Convention center is one of the signs of their preparation. The building equipped with several convention halls, meeting rooms, translator booths in the main halls, and more AV equipment than I have ever seen is one of the many structures that is heading this city into the future...

Later that evening we visited the DAmyang spa, which is a public bath in which men and women are able to bath, sauna, sit in various temeratured pools, even have massages. Like with most of the world, nakedness isn't a big deal and I quickly lost that uncomfortable feeling...(sorry, no pictures here). I think the funniest moment came as I was wading in a cold water pool stading uder the waterfall feeling like I was three years old again splaching our translator Chung Bo with water...return to childhood as often as possible...

Thursday 31st: The final day of May saw the group make our first presentation to a local rotary club. We presented our DVD video and Dr. Jill addressed the clud eloquently as usual. It was a nice lunch a great time to visit with fellow rotarians here in Gwanju. They are fun people, always smiling and welcome to new persons...

In the afternoon we visited the OB Blue Brewery where we recieved a tour of the beer making process and had an opportunity to go to a beer museum and taste a fresh brue all on the premesis. I am not a big fan of beer, but the museum was neat as well as the processes, and we got to meet the OB Blue girls and take a picture with them...

Friday 1st: yesterday we first visited a bamboo garden. These places are so sacred and have been around for so many thousands of years...I am amazed by their beauty and their structures...and everything has a meaning as to what it is where it is...trees, statues, buildings, even where you sit and read all have a purpose and a meaning...

In the evening we visited another spa, this one is called a gingiban. Similar to the other spa, but after you are done bathing you put on what look like doctor's scrubs and you go upstairs for co-ed sauna rooms which range from really hot to extreme cold, ones filled with salt and others with charcoal...I am amazed by how well the Koreans take care of their minds and their bodies, which is evident as they tell you their ages and you sit stunned in amazement by how young they look...

Finally, in the evening we were off to a karaoke bar and ended up transferring locations and visitng a party for our translator Chung Bo who is leaving to serve his two year service to the Korean military...he is a good man and I will miss him much, hopefully to cross paths again...

Today we are preparing to visit a butterfly garden and several other activities tomorrow...we are off to Seoul on Monday and to the DMZ...should be a good time, pictures and video to follow. I hope this finds you well, be safe, no worries...