So, do we say "Twenty-Ten" or "Two Thousand and Ten"? I remember pondering this very question at the turn of the century... no one knew the answer back then but figured it would sort itself out by the time it actually rolled around. Well, here we are... now what?
In our family, 2010 is also known as "The Year of the Time Capsule". Way back when - 12 or 13 years ago, was it? - the kids and I made a project of studying each decade of the 20th Century. We saved the box that some of the materials came in; it was colorful and sturdy and would suit our purposes quite well. We wanted to create a family time capsule, to be opened waaaaay down the road, in 2010, an almost inconceivable time-span away.
We made up a questionnaire for each of us to answer, added some pictures, a copy of the local newspaper complete with the grocery ads, and also put in various objects (none of which I remember now). After reading everyone's entries aloud - to the amusement of us all - the whole thing was duct-taped shut and set in the basement for safe-keeping. A solemn vow was made that we would all gather again, knowing even then that Life would have led us far and wide by that time, so we could open the capsule together.
Every year I would write on the December page of the new calendar, "Remember: Time Capsule - 2010". And now, here we are, right on the verge of that particular year.
Our youngest, Kerry, has been Keeper of the Capsule since the break-up of our old farm. (We love these kinds of honorary titles in our family!) One day, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle and trauma of moving out, she gave a little gasp and rushed downstairs. She had all-of-a-sudden remembered the Time Capsule, still tucked away on its ledge in the basement! Ever since then, she has kept it safe in a closet or cupboard, taking it with her each time she moved.
We are pretty spread out at present: Mike & I in Hawaii; Lori & Dave up in Anchorage; Chris & Katie in Bonners; and Kerry in the Seattle area. But somehow, we will do our best to make the Opening of the Time Capsule happen with all of us present. Including spouses. That was specified even way back when the capsule was being created. I think it had something to do with some of the answers on that questionnaire...
Wishing you all a joyous New Year with many exciting discoveries of your own!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Remembering Winter Solstice
For your holiday reading pleasure ~
Yule is an ancient fire festival, taking place on December 21st, the longest night of the year. It is a calling for the sun to return to us, to bring back the light and banish darkness, or at least to keep it from consuming us with cold and misery and doubt. And for our family, Yule was the best of the Winter festivals.
A huge bonfire pile would have been slowly built all year long, starting with last year's dried out Christmas tree. Every time a fruit tree was pruned in the spring, the boughs would go onto the bonfire pile. All summer long, barrowloads of scrap wood from whatever building projects were taking place that year would be added. The trimmings and thinnings, the branches blown down in storms, log ends from the woods, or broken pallets and crates - all would be heaved up onto the growing pile in hopes of a bright blaze come Winter.
When the weather turned damp and gray in Autumn, the pile would be covered with an old tarp. Days grew shorter and colder, darker and dreary. The procession of Autumnal holidays helped brighten our spirits and our homes. Pretty soon now, the glorious day would arrive! Snow might bury the bonfire mound in a blanket of icy whiteness. Some years, when the snows were particularly heavy and deep, we'd have to shovel a path from the house, into the field to the waiting pile - and then dig out the pile itself before the ceremony could begin!
As the Winter Solstice approached, invitations were sent out to family and friends. This was always our biggest party of the year!
Guests would arrive at dusk. Everyone brought food for the groaning board, so called because the table would be completely covered with delectables, both savory and sweet. Each guest would also bring something to add to the bonfire. This could be anything from a stick of firewood to a specially woven corn dolly, a gnarly twisted root found on a hike, or a letter to a dearly departed one - each would be added to the pyre.
* * * * *
Bundled up against the icy cold of mid-winter's night, we become mesmerized by the fingers of flame licking their way up the pile. It crackles and pops as fire begins to take hold. Pine needles sizzle and glow. Sparks fly to the starry night sky. We roast ourselves, slowly turning in place to warm first one side, then the other, alternating the heat of the flame with the chill of the northern night. Light and dark. Yin and yang.
We begin to circle around the now-blazing bonfire, tramping a path through the snow, and chanting, "Bring back the Sun, bring back the Sun."
Circle three times... and then break out the fireworks!
These are the ones we had stashed away since last summer, saved especially for Solstice. There is no better time for bright fountains, whizzing rockets, and crackling sparklers than on the longest night of the year, in the middle of a snowy field, each individual crystal of snow reflecting back each spark of light!
Back to the house now. Ablaze with Christmas tree lights and the lights of dozens of candles, the festivities continue indoors. A huge pile of snowboots, thick winter coats, scarves, hats, and mittens fills the entryway. Once you clamber over this barrier, adding your own layers to it, there are tables of all sorts of good foods, mugs of hot and spicy cider, music and laughter and conversation.
Many will eventually wander back outside to the still-blazing bonfire, drawn like moths by the attraction of its flames. The sharp smell of smoke drifts across the fields on this icy northern night, the most special night of our year.
The sun will return... tomorrow.
* * * * *
I wish you all a Blessed Yule, and a Merry Christmas!
Yule is an ancient fire festival, taking place on December 21st, the longest night of the year. It is a calling for the sun to return to us, to bring back the light and banish darkness, or at least to keep it from consuming us with cold and misery and doubt. And for our family, Yule was the best of the Winter festivals.
A huge bonfire pile would have been slowly built all year long, starting with last year's dried out Christmas tree. Every time a fruit tree was pruned in the spring, the boughs would go onto the bonfire pile. All summer long, barrowloads of scrap wood from whatever building projects were taking place that year would be added. The trimmings and thinnings, the branches blown down in storms, log ends from the woods, or broken pallets and crates - all would be heaved up onto the growing pile in hopes of a bright blaze come Winter.
When the weather turned damp and gray in Autumn, the pile would be covered with an old tarp. Days grew shorter and colder, darker and dreary. The procession of Autumnal holidays helped brighten our spirits and our homes. Pretty soon now, the glorious day would arrive! Snow might bury the bonfire mound in a blanket of icy whiteness. Some years, when the snows were particularly heavy and deep, we'd have to shovel a path from the house, into the field to the waiting pile - and then dig out the pile itself before the ceremony could begin!
As the Winter Solstice approached, invitations were sent out to family and friends. This was always our biggest party of the year!
Guests would arrive at dusk. Everyone brought food for the groaning board, so called because the table would be completely covered with delectables, both savory and sweet. Each guest would also bring something to add to the bonfire. This could be anything from a stick of firewood to a specially woven corn dolly, a gnarly twisted root found on a hike, or a letter to a dearly departed one - each would be added to the pyre.
* * * * *
Bundled up against the icy cold of mid-winter's night, we become mesmerized by the fingers of flame licking their way up the pile. It crackles and pops as fire begins to take hold. Pine needles sizzle and glow. Sparks fly to the starry night sky. We roast ourselves, slowly turning in place to warm first one side, then the other, alternating the heat of the flame with the chill of the northern night. Light and dark. Yin and yang.
We begin to circle around the now-blazing bonfire, tramping a path through the snow, and chanting, "Bring back the Sun, bring back the Sun."
Circle three times... and then break out the fireworks!
These are the ones we had stashed away since last summer, saved especially for Solstice. There is no better time for bright fountains, whizzing rockets, and crackling sparklers than on the longest night of the year, in the middle of a snowy field, each individual crystal of snow reflecting back each spark of light!
Back to the house now. Ablaze with Christmas tree lights and the lights of dozens of candles, the festivities continue indoors. A huge pile of snowboots, thick winter coats, scarves, hats, and mittens fills the entryway. Once you clamber over this barrier, adding your own layers to it, there are tables of all sorts of good foods, mugs of hot and spicy cider, music and laughter and conversation.
Many will eventually wander back outside to the still-blazing bonfire, drawn like moths by the attraction of its flames. The sharp smell of smoke drifts across the fields on this icy northern night, the most special night of our year.
The sun will return... tomorrow.
* * * * *
I wish you all a Blessed Yule, and a Merry Christmas!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Korea Trip - Part 4
Over the mountains and through the mountains, lots of tunnels, past and through cities... we traveled on. 
The air was so smoky that we couldn't really see the mountains or the ocean. Instead, we passed the time on the bus eating crunchy persimmons and hearing stories about Dr Park's family (from Korea) and the history of Korea - fascinating and sad, both of them. At the Sacheon rest area I bought a headscarf like the egg farmer's wife wore; it will be perfect for keeping the scorching summer sun off my neck and shoulders while working out in the garden.
In the late afternoon, we arrived at the Goseong County Agriculture Training Center.
Now this is the way to do it! This place had the healthiest, most relaxed animals we'd seen, by far! And again, no smell due to the IMO used in the feed and in the deep bedding (we're talking 3-4 feet deep!).
A
After a tour of the barns, we were given a video presentation - all in Korean but interesting anyway... and we were being videotaped the entire time, too. 
Would have liked more time here, but the Serbia-Spain group was arriving for their tour right after our visit, so... on to the next place.
The kiwi farm was housed inside a gorgeous tall, arched greenhouse with screened-in walls to help soften the off-shore winds. We were at the southern coast now, which is dotted with some 300 small islands, all very exotic and picturesque. Looking towards the coast, we see this view (by the way, this is not the kiwi greenhouse in this photo!):
There was a mild evening breeze that day, with lovely ocean views, but when a storm does blow in, the roof can be closed up as needed. There had been flooding last spring that caused some injury to the vines, so he was very apologetic about the poor state of his crop. It looked like a bounteous harvest to us, and we all did our best to show our appreciation of his delicious, juicy fruit eaten right there in the orchard. Saw the IMO production and mineralized water set-up for the plants. We were served coffee, green tea, and fresh kiwi slices for a treat. Everyone signed the guestbook before it was time to move on. 
By this time it was dark. We headed for Goseong City, population 56,000. Dinner was a delicious duck soup at the Nil Pom (Constant Spring) Restaurant. The soup had "special herbs" in it, one of which looked like a stalk of rose bush, called calapansa or something like that (not sure of the pronunciation, or spelling). Apparently, just for flavoring and health benefits - not to be eaten. The meal was yummy; I liked the rice gruel too. Mike and I had a little evening stroll outside in the cool evening air while the others finished up.
A 10-minute ride through the city took us to the Prince Hotel, a nice room for the night. Like all the hotels here, the room was way overheated, so the first thing we did was open the window to let in some cooler air. The floors are heated so one never really gets the room cool, but the breeze coming in helps a lot. As it was, I didn't sleep very well, but a nice hot shower helped revive me enough for another busy day.
Once we were all packed up on the bus again, it was a short drive and a little walk, past some interesting little shops, for our breakfast meeting with Mayor Lee, Hak Lul and his entourage, at "a very famous restaurant" that I never did get the name of. We were seated right next to the Mayor, a young man who had spent 6 years in the US and spoke good English. He is a great supporter of Natural Farming and we had a lovely lively conversation with him over spicy fish soup and many seaweed side dishes.
A tomato farm was our first stop of the day. These very healthy plants were Unicorn variety. We learned that too much nitrogen attracts the whitefly - a common greenhouse pest - and that spraying with calcium-phosphorus solution is the remedy. In Natural Farming, we get this solution from eggshells or bones.
Next was a very high-tech glass greenhouse full of bell peppers grown hydroponically. There did seem to be a bit of powdery mildew here, most likely due to the higher humidity from the hydroponics. The plants were huge, the tallest pepper plants I've ever seen, and loaded with peppers!
We found out that we'd been on tv last night... and would be again this evening as well!! The videographer was getting some good footage of our official tour group, apparently.
Next up, we got to stretch our legs a bit as we walked past rice fields to a small persimmon farm in a lovely country setting. There we tasted the very best persimmons in the world! Excellent flavor in both the crunchy and soft persimmons. The sun began to break through the clouds, and we all began shedding sweaters and jackets.
And on to a zucchini farm run by an ex-gangster! He had some really nice looking plants, all trained to grow vertically. He gave us a great video presentation of his farm and the innovative ideas he's had for packaging and marketing his squash. This is also the guy who talked the Mayor of Goseong County into supporting Natural Farming in the first place!
After this whirlwind of farm tours, we spent the rest of the morning at the Goseong Dinosaur Expo.
It was huge and fantastic! Life size replicas of the many dinosaurs whose remains have been found along this coastline of Korea. The museum was also filled with hundreds of schoolchildren who would call out "hello! hello!" to us... and be delighted when I'd reply "hello!" Their teacher said they were all second-graders and she was interested in where I was from. Hey, if you're not Asian, you really stand out in Korea and the people are so curious and polite, and they really want to practice and improve their English; I found myself having these conversations many times throughout our travels there. I love it! So I had a nice little conversation with the teacher while the kids were entranced by another dinosaur display, and then I got lots of photos of these excited little kids!
The views from the grounds were stunning, overlooking the bay:
Across one arm of the bay, was a ship-building yard:
Had an excellent lunch at what we called the Happy Pig restaurant - I have no idea of its real name. Instead of the usual pots of broth bubbling away on the table, there were little grills this time, and platters of pork belly and shiitake mushrooms waiting to be cooked. Mike was in hog heaven sitting right in front of one of the grills and having a blast at the mini-bbq! Oh my, that was a delicious meal!
The long bus ride back up to Seoul took up the entire afternoon, with a few quick pit stops along the way.
At the San Cheong Rest Area, there was a display of beautiful bonsai trees for sale:
As we drove on and on, there was a gorgeous red sunset:
Crossed the Han River at 7:33pm. Seoul is an enormous, bustling city! We went right downtown to the Doota Shopping Center for a late dinner on the seventh floor, at their version of a food court:
Then outside for a stroll along the canal. It used to be a sewage canal, but you wouldn't know it. Lots of people taking in the night at this ribbon of park. There was a sax player under one of the bridges - but darn, not enough light for a photo. Lots of city lights though, lots of color and life, and those humongous tv screens on the sides of building. Quite overwhelming for a country girl like me!
Back to the Doota for a little souvenir shopping. Our city guide, June, was great at haggling for lower prices for us at each little shop. Thank you, June!
We spent our last night in Korea at the Dragon Hills Spa, a 'sauna hotel'. Sorry, no photos allowed here! The first thing you do is, of course, take off your shoes. You stuff them in a little locker and take the wristband key. They hand you a uniform and 2 small towels which you take into either the men's or women's changing rooms, which are on different floors of this 6-story building. I'll admit, I wasn't really looking forward to this, but it turned out to be rather pleasant, except for the lack of sleeping space. At first, Tanya and I, being the only non-Korean speaking women left in our group, clung to eachother with big wide eyes. But after an hour or so, I got to know my way around a little and felt more at ease. I loved the women-only area - it felt very liberating and nice. You find the bigger locker that corresponds to the number on your key and stash all your clothes and stuff in there. Then you can relax, naked, in any of the variety of saunas, hot pools, showers, or spa treatments. Or, if you want to go out into the common areas, you put on the uniform shorts & shirt, and there are more saunas, as well as computers, tv, snack bar, massage chairs, and just space for men & women together. The whole place is floored in huge marble tiles, warmed from beneath, and glistening clean. There was a cold room too, which felt absolutely delicious. I spent a while in there, catching up my journal. A young Korea man was impressed with my writing - just the act of it I think - and we got into conversation about the places I'd visited and if I liked Korea. (Everyone asks this.) Much of this conversation was done with smiles and signing and nodding, but we both seemed to enjoy it. I had a great massage chair treatment - it was so nice, I talked Mike into getting one too! The downside of this place is that there's really no where to sleep. There are stacks of vinyl-covered foam blocks; you take one of these for a pillow and just lie down anywhere - really, any piece of floor that's not already occupied by a sleeping body - and that's where you're supposed to sleep. Uh-huh. Yeah, that's not gonna work for me. We wandered all over every floor in search of maybe a cushion, bench, or chair to lie down on... all were already taken. (See, it's not just us!) Finally, finally, at about 2 in the morning, we stumbled upon a long couch out near the foyer and pounced upon it. Sure, it was kinda noisy and brightly lit... but we managed a few measly catnaps off and on for the remaining few hours of night. Mike got up a couple times to see if he could possibly unplug that damn video game around the corner, but no, it was hardwired; I bet it had been unplugged maybe one time too many.
And so, on our last morning, exhausted - but clean! - we ate a quick, not-so-good bowl of noodles for breakfast at the sauna hotel, and boarded the bus once more. Everybody agreed that, interesting though the experience was, a sauna hotel is not the best place for the night before traveling.
A morning of sight-seeing through the city by bus...
...and one more stop: the National Palace historic grounds & Museum. We had an hour to wander about this awesome place.
The stupa with monks under the sacred tree:
On to the airport for a quick rearranging of the suitcases and carry-ons. Goodbyes to the Parks (staying on for a few days) and the Chos, with many hugs.
Customs and immigration - no problem.
Check-in, boarding... and off to Tokyo/Narita airport, then back across the western half of the Pacific Ocean on the L---O---N---G flight home.
At last, many, many hours later... we arrived at our own front door... finally collapsed into our own comfy bed... and slept for 12 hours straight.
I am so very glad we seized the opportunity to do this trip, to have this experience, and to learn so much more about the Korean Natural Farming methods. Thank you, Mike! Now let's put what we've learned into practice and transform our own place!! :-)
The air was so smoky that we couldn't really see the mountains or the ocean. Instead, we passed the time on the bus eating crunchy persimmons and hearing stories about Dr Park's family (from Korea) and the history of Korea - fascinating and sad, both of them. At the Sacheon rest area I bought a headscarf like the egg farmer's wife wore; it will be perfect for keeping the scorching summer sun off my neck and shoulders while working out in the garden.In the late afternoon, we arrived at the Goseong County Agriculture Training Center.
Now this is the way to do it! This place had the healthiest, most relaxed animals we'd seen, by far! And again, no smell due to the IMO used in the feed and in the deep bedding (we're talking 3-4 feet deep!).
A
After a tour of the barns, we were given a video presentation - all in Korean but interesting anyway... and we were being videotaped the entire time, too. 
Would have liked more time here, but the Serbia-Spain group was arriving for their tour right after our visit, so... on to the next place.The kiwi farm was housed inside a gorgeous tall, arched greenhouse with screened-in walls to help soften the off-shore winds. We were at the southern coast now, which is dotted with some 300 small islands, all very exotic and picturesque. Looking towards the coast, we see this view (by the way, this is not the kiwi greenhouse in this photo!):
There was a mild evening breeze that day, with lovely ocean views, but when a storm does blow in, the roof can be closed up as needed. There had been flooding last spring that caused some injury to the vines, so he was very apologetic about the poor state of his crop. It looked like a bounteous harvest to us, and we all did our best to show our appreciation of his delicious, juicy fruit eaten right there in the orchard. Saw the IMO production and mineralized water set-up for the plants. We were served coffee, green tea, and fresh kiwi slices for a treat. Everyone signed the guestbook before it was time to move on. 
By this time it was dark. We headed for Goseong City, population 56,000. Dinner was a delicious duck soup at the Nil Pom (Constant Spring) Restaurant. The soup had "special herbs" in it, one of which looked like a stalk of rose bush, called calapansa or something like that (not sure of the pronunciation, or spelling). Apparently, just for flavoring and health benefits - not to be eaten. The meal was yummy; I liked the rice gruel too. Mike and I had a little evening stroll outside in the cool evening air while the others finished up.
A 10-minute ride through the city took us to the Prince Hotel, a nice room for the night. Like all the hotels here, the room was way overheated, so the first thing we did was open the window to let in some cooler air. The floors are heated so one never really gets the room cool, but the breeze coming in helps a lot. As it was, I didn't sleep very well, but a nice hot shower helped revive me enough for another busy day.
Once we were all packed up on the bus again, it was a short drive and a little walk, past some interesting little shops, for our breakfast meeting with Mayor Lee, Hak Lul and his entourage, at "a very famous restaurant" that I never did get the name of. We were seated right next to the Mayor, a young man who had spent 6 years in the US and spoke good English. He is a great supporter of Natural Farming and we had a lovely lively conversation with him over spicy fish soup and many seaweed side dishes.
A tomato farm was our first stop of the day. These very healthy plants were Unicorn variety. We learned that too much nitrogen attracts the whitefly - a common greenhouse pest - and that spraying with calcium-phosphorus solution is the remedy. In Natural Farming, we get this solution from eggshells or bones.
Next was a very high-tech glass greenhouse full of bell peppers grown hydroponically. There did seem to be a bit of powdery mildew here, most likely due to the higher humidity from the hydroponics. The plants were huge, the tallest pepper plants I've ever seen, and loaded with peppers!
We found out that we'd been on tv last night... and would be again this evening as well!! The videographer was getting some good footage of our official tour group, apparently.
Next up, we got to stretch our legs a bit as we walked past rice fields to a small persimmon farm in a lovely country setting. There we tasted the very best persimmons in the world! Excellent flavor in both the crunchy and soft persimmons. The sun began to break through the clouds, and we all began shedding sweaters and jackets.
And on to a zucchini farm run by an ex-gangster! He had some really nice looking plants, all trained to grow vertically. He gave us a great video presentation of his farm and the innovative ideas he's had for packaging and marketing his squash. This is also the guy who talked the Mayor of Goseong County into supporting Natural Farming in the first place!
After this whirlwind of farm tours, we spent the rest of the morning at the Goseong Dinosaur Expo.
It was huge and fantastic! Life size replicas of the many dinosaurs whose remains have been found along this coastline of Korea. The museum was also filled with hundreds of schoolchildren who would call out "hello! hello!" to us... and be delighted when I'd reply "hello!" Their teacher said they were all second-graders and she was interested in where I was from. Hey, if you're not Asian, you really stand out in Korea and the people are so curious and polite, and they really want to practice and improve their English; I found myself having these conversations many times throughout our travels there. I love it! So I had a nice little conversation with the teacher while the kids were entranced by another dinosaur display, and then I got lots of photos of these excited little kids!
The views from the grounds were stunning, overlooking the bay:
Across one arm of the bay, was a ship-building yard:
Had an excellent lunch at what we called the Happy Pig restaurant - I have no idea of its real name. Instead of the usual pots of broth bubbling away on the table, there were little grills this time, and platters of pork belly and shiitake mushrooms waiting to be cooked. Mike was in hog heaven sitting right in front of one of the grills and having a blast at the mini-bbq! Oh my, that was a delicious meal!
The long bus ride back up to Seoul took up the entire afternoon, with a few quick pit stops along the way.
At the San Cheong Rest Area, there was a display of beautiful bonsai trees for sale:
As we drove on and on, there was a gorgeous red sunset:
Crossed the Han River at 7:33pm. Seoul is an enormous, bustling city! We went right downtown to the Doota Shopping Center for a late dinner on the seventh floor, at their version of a food court:
Then outside for a stroll along the canal. It used to be a sewage canal, but you wouldn't know it. Lots of people taking in the night at this ribbon of park. There was a sax player under one of the bridges - but darn, not enough light for a photo. Lots of city lights though, lots of color and life, and those humongous tv screens on the sides of building. Quite overwhelming for a country girl like me!
Back to the Doota for a little souvenir shopping. Our city guide, June, was great at haggling for lower prices for us at each little shop. Thank you, June!We spent our last night in Korea at the Dragon Hills Spa, a 'sauna hotel'. Sorry, no photos allowed here! The first thing you do is, of course, take off your shoes. You stuff them in a little locker and take the wristband key. They hand you a uniform and 2 small towels which you take into either the men's or women's changing rooms, which are on different floors of this 6-story building. I'll admit, I wasn't really looking forward to this, but it turned out to be rather pleasant, except for the lack of sleeping space. At first, Tanya and I, being the only non-Korean speaking women left in our group, clung to eachother with big wide eyes. But after an hour or so, I got to know my way around a little and felt more at ease. I loved the women-only area - it felt very liberating and nice. You find the bigger locker that corresponds to the number on your key and stash all your clothes and stuff in there. Then you can relax, naked, in any of the variety of saunas, hot pools, showers, or spa treatments. Or, if you want to go out into the common areas, you put on the uniform shorts & shirt, and there are more saunas, as well as computers, tv, snack bar, massage chairs, and just space for men & women together. The whole place is floored in huge marble tiles, warmed from beneath, and glistening clean. There was a cold room too, which felt absolutely delicious. I spent a while in there, catching up my journal. A young Korea man was impressed with my writing - just the act of it I think - and we got into conversation about the places I'd visited and if I liked Korea. (Everyone asks this.) Much of this conversation was done with smiles and signing and nodding, but we both seemed to enjoy it. I had a great massage chair treatment - it was so nice, I talked Mike into getting one too! The downside of this place is that there's really no where to sleep. There are stacks of vinyl-covered foam blocks; you take one of these for a pillow and just lie down anywhere - really, any piece of floor that's not already occupied by a sleeping body - and that's where you're supposed to sleep. Uh-huh. Yeah, that's not gonna work for me. We wandered all over every floor in search of maybe a cushion, bench, or chair to lie down on... all were already taken. (See, it's not just us!) Finally, finally, at about 2 in the morning, we stumbled upon a long couch out near the foyer and pounced upon it. Sure, it was kinda noisy and brightly lit... but we managed a few measly catnaps off and on for the remaining few hours of night. Mike got up a couple times to see if he could possibly unplug that damn video game around the corner, but no, it was hardwired; I bet it had been unplugged maybe one time too many.
And so, on our last morning, exhausted - but clean! - we ate a quick, not-so-good bowl of noodles for breakfast at the sauna hotel, and boarded the bus once more. Everybody agreed that, interesting though the experience was, a sauna hotel is not the best place for the night before traveling.
A morning of sight-seeing through the city by bus...
...and one more stop: the National Palace historic grounds & Museum. We had an hour to wander about this awesome place.
The stupa with monks under the sacred tree:
On to the airport for a quick rearranging of the suitcases and carry-ons. Goodbyes to the Parks (staying on for a few days) and the Chos, with many hugs.
Customs and immigration - no problem.
Check-in, boarding... and off to Tokyo/Narita airport, then back across the western half of the Pacific Ocean on the L---O---N---G flight home.
At last, many, many hours later... we arrived at our own front door... finally collapsed into our own comfy bed... and slept for 12 hours straight.
I am so very glad we seized the opportunity to do this trip, to have this experience, and to learn so much more about the Korean Natural Farming methods. Thank you, Mike! Now let's put what we've learned into practice and transform our own place!! :-)
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