And for this gift, I feel blessed.

What have I done to deserve all this?

Nicola arrived from Wando on Friday evening. We went to Julianna's to get her a good Waguk fix, then came home to get a good sleep in preparation for Jogye-san on Saturday.

Saturday morning, we headed off to Jogye-san (mountain) with Matt, Helen and Carol. We took a city bus for an hour on winding roads through rice paddies until we reached the Seonamsa temple complex. The temple was beautiful - imagine a cluster of gorgeously painted buildings at the base of a cluster of mountains. We set off on a lovely path, meaning to go to the summit of Jogye mountain, then down again to another temple, Songwansa. I clearly remember telling everyone in Canada about this trek before I even left. It was in all my guidebooks and I was really excited about it.

As luck would have it, we ended up on the wrong trail... but what serendipity! At one of our numerous stops to catch our breath (steep trail), we asked a Korean man to tell us where we were on our map. He pointed to a different trail than where we were, but then set off with us as our newly adopted guide (he spoke no English, we were able to chat a bit with him in our very limited Korean). He brought us first to a Buddhist hermitage - basically a few small shacks high on the mountain, with an absolutely gorgeous view. We were welcomed by several older ladies and a monk. Nicola, who was hiking in bare feet, got a reflexology foot massage from one of the ladies, while I was invited by our Korean guide to go sit in the shrine. The ceiling was decorated with numerous lotus lanterns (Buddha's b-day was a month ago), and I was thankful to remove my boots and sit for a while. After a few pictures and quite a few "hahpjahng" (deep bows with hands clasped like Namasté) to thank our hosts, we continued on our way. We didn't make it to the summit, but to a small clearing where we met up with several other Korean hikers. Our guide showed us the correct path to follow to get to Songwangsa, introduced us to everyone, we shared oranges and a can of coffee (given to us by random hikers), then continued on our way.

At the base of the trail, following a stream (that we did wade in a bit), we came to a huge restaurant where several people sat on low tables, eating massive quantities of food. A table of people (probably the ones we'd met earlier on the trail) invited me over and offered me a drink of Dongdongju (a VERY strong rice wine). Imagine guzzling a bowl full of whiskey half-way through a hike! Of course, you have to do it "one shot". After chatting with a math teacher who spoke some English, we continued along the trail. By this point, we'd been hiking for several hours, but it was one of the most glorious trails I'd ever seen -- lots of variety (sometimes rocks, sometimes dirt, sometimes bamboo forest, sometimes a stream to play in or gather rocks at). I was in complete heaven (Matt laughs that he kept hearing me yell out "This is &*%$#@ awesome!").

This hike was not about just reaching the destination - the journey in itself was continuously rewarding. When we arrived at Songwangsa, I was floored by the absolute colour and beauty of the whole complex. Imagine a shrine with a big Buddha in the center, surrounded on all sides by 1000 smaller Buddhas - each with a different face!

Upon our return to Suncheon (we chatted happily with everyone on the bus), we hurried to get ready for supper. This time, our group was joined by Roberta, Gemma and Karen, and we headed to a restaurant where we ate our rice, veggies and kimchi wrapped in lettuce leaves (My favourite! Meron: to myself, I call them Gunslinger Burritos). During our supper, we drank more Dongdongju. This is the most amazing drink ever. It makes you happy, giggly and full of love for everything and everyone around you. It's euphoria in a bowl!

Our next stop was a Hof (pub) and batting cages. Then, we went on to Julianna's for another Waguk fix. We had another go at the Norae room, singing ourselves hoarse to Nirvana, Grease, Oasis etc.

This morning, Nicola and I brought lattes to Matt and Helen, and Matt made us a delicious veggie curry (brunch) while Helen taught me some basic guitar chords. Yes, I am going to learn how to play guitar -- must toughen up my fingers, they are still throbbing.

This entire week has been just one glorious time after another: Busan, an amazing shabu-shabu lunch with the English department at my school, the day in Gurye with the Cha family, girls' night (pedicures!) at Shidae, Nicola's visit, Jogye-san, dongdongju, the Norae room, changing from E to A minor on a guitar....

Yesterday afternoon, as I was hiking, I did make a bit of a decision: I know that I am in the "honeymoon" phase. I know that everything is new and wonderful. I know that the friends I have now will leave at some point - in some cases, in just a few months. I know that I will have bouts of homesickness and culture shock. I know that my glasses are rose coloured.

I know that I'm staying another year.