this ones for greg....

as i chatted with greg the other day on skype, he reminded me that i still had at least one person who checked this blog 'so could i write something, please?' well, here is how my day went.....
yesterday as i was recovering from a saki/snowboarding hangover, it started to snow heavily and was accumulating quickly. i knew if it was building up in town, the ski hill would be getting dumped on and today would certainly be a coveted korean powder day. when it was still snowing at 10 pm, i made the decision to put packing up my apartment aside for the morning and proceeded to make the best 'play' list on my ipod to keep me company as all my usual boarding partners were back at school. by 7:30 am , i was out the door and greeted by a thick blanket of white covering the city which only increased in density as i drove the 30 minute trip to yongpyeong. with a belly full of anticipation, i turned off the highway and made my way to my favourite board rental shop and laughed to myself to see the parking lot buried under 20 cms. of new snow. leaving the car at the side of the road, i tossed on the flashers, ran inside the shop, and the owners knowing me well already, had my size boots and board ready to go. the laughing inside me continued when 10 minutes later i pulled into yongpyeong's parking lot and found myself to be the third car there. boots on, board in hand, ipod tuned up and the gondola deposited me to the top of the mountain. the snow was thick, fluffy and better than i could have imagined. once i had the bindings done up tight, i skipped songs on the ipod until i got to my latest favourite song; teagan and sarah's 'the con', cranked it and jumped up in a 180' to clap my hands together in playful delight. it was pure bliss. singing at the top of my lungs while getting face shot after face shot, having to jump-turn due to all the powder, and taking every jump i could fathom-it was 'the' day.
on my fourth run down with chris cornell crooning in my ear , i was about to pass by two guys taking photos of each other (this is korea after all) when one of them called me over as we shared a grin. i had to cut a sharp turn in order to make it over to them and with the ample snow building up on my board, i wasn't able to slough off enough speed to stop until i landed right in front of, and on top of, who i later learned was 'june'. we all shared a long goofy laugh over this, exchanged some info and of course some pictures. a few minutes later, seon from seoul joined us and we proceeded to whoop it up over the next few runs, enjoying the company and similarity in riding. june and ha jeong liked to go fast and burst out of their turns. seon also liked the speed but had the grace of a ballet dancer as she dug into the snow. i was the total powder hound and stuck to the sides and where ever i could get out of bounds. on the lift rides up, i openly admired the spanky gear the korean crew was decked out in; full burton and arcteryx with the latest boards and bindings of which they were making good use.
after 4 or 5 more runs, june asked me if i'd like to join them for some kimbap and coffee which i readily agreed to. we went inside only to find starbucks had closed at the top for the season and june suggested we go back the bottom for lunch. i thanked him for the offer but as i only had 45 minutes left on my free morning pass, it wouldn't be possible for me to eat and get back up the gondola without paying for the afternoon session. the group was intent on having me there for lunch and ha jeong even offered to pay for my ticket. i laughed and said yes to go down, figuring i had put in a seriously good morning session and should head back to get to the packing anyway. we made our way down yongpyeong's longest slope of 3.7 kms and was led by ha jeong into the facilities. i expected that we would head to the basic, albeit expensive, fastfood restaurants but i heard the words 'galbi' and 'gogi' (beef and meat) being tossed around and wondered where we were heading to and perhaps i should hit the bank machine. before we proceeded to the restaurant though, ha jeong said we had to go to the ticket office. as we walked over, he told me that he and seon were finished for the day but he wanted june and i to board together for the afternoon so he wanted to buy my ticket. he brushed my protests aside and said he had lots of money and wanted to use it to continue this 'happy day'. i bowed deeply as he presented me with such a generous gift and was utterly grateful at such kindness.
unravelling our layers of gortex and fleece as we walked to the resort's restaurant, i finally got a good look at my co-riders and found myself a little caught off guard. with their baggy burton boarding outfits and riding styles, i took them to all be somewhere between 25 to 35. as you do with koreans, we played the age game and soon found out ha jeong was 60, june was 55 and although i didn't ask, i suspect seon was close to 40. as more information was shared, it turns out ha jeong is a 'famous' korean zen master monk, june is his assistant and seon is ha jeong's student. i had been boarding with korea's finest enlightened.
after a lavish lunch, again ha jeong's treat, june and i grabbed a latte as we bid farewell to the other two and headed back up the gondola. between runs on the chairlift, june entertained me with his travel stories of mountain biking all over the world and i introduced him to some of canada's premier music (wintersleep, i mother earth, teagan and sarah) by sharing an earphone. although we were both feeling tired, the snow was still so good, i kept saying 'just one more run!' until we were both beaming from exhaustion and made our way down once again. he asked if i could give him a ride to ha jeong's house just 10 minutes from the hill which turned out to be in a stunning 2-storied condo. after a quick cup a tea, we shared a hug good-bye and thanked each other, smiling ear to ear.
if i've ever questioned why i travel the world, it was days like today that offer me the answer.

shedding more....

once again i sit amongst a pile of yoga pants, trying to cut back on the 8 pairs i want bring (yes, i own that many!). i'm leaving to thailand for a month tomorrow. this trip will be a busy time of cleansing/shedding, acroyoga and assisting jonas westring at his level 1 immersion in chaing mai. i'm a ball of mixed emotions as i start on another journey and long for someone to guide me in the proper path. there are no mistakes, only opportunities to grow.

petal droppings.....

this past week-end was a whirlwind of rushing about so i could catch a last-minute flight to hong kong to once again study with john friend. i was contacted several weeks ago by vanessa crow, whom i did my teacher training with in thailand last year , and she told me that john was going to be holding a workshop at pure yoga, where her and her husband copper have been teaching for the past two years. i've been exchanging quite a bit of email with vanessa as of late as i put out the word to the asian kula (community) that i'm seeking a full-time yoga teaching job next year and pure yoga is often hiring. vanessa invited me to stay at her place, saying it was a good opportunity to check things out while studying with my teacher. after hearing about last minute flights going to h.k for $300 from a co-worker ,i decided to register myself in the workshop only to be told that it had been full for quite some time. i figured the universe was telling me it wasn't the time to go until i received an email wednesday night telling me pure had moved the workshop to a larger venue and was i still interested in attending. by thursday morning, i had myself booked on a sweet cathay flight and a gluten-free vegetarian meal was awaiting me at 7:45 pm friday.
this workshop was a completely different scene than what was in tokyo, right from the start of the glitzy pure studio to the 150+ yogi's who were attending. the practice room was organic with anticipatory energy when vanessa and i went in to claim our mats yet john still noticed when we walked in and came over to welcome me with a warm hug. the classes that proceeded were some of the toughest i've been in yet and it was wonderful to have vanessa beside me, a highly trained yogini, to give insights and pointers. we laughed, farted, and bitched to each other, just like old times in the a.u.a center in chiang mai and she did a very good job in telling me why i should come to work for pure. she also took me through a tour of the health food and organic supermarkets plus lunch at a raw foods restaurant called 'live'. this woman knows me well.
the time flew by and before i knew it, i was on the plane back to korea. i did manage to meet paveena, the woman who would do the hiring, and patrick, the anusara teacher whom i'd like to study under. paveena let me know that in order for me to be considered for a position there, i would need to tape a class of me teaching, which absolutely terrifies me. yikes. i'm also looking at bangkok as a potential place for work next year and will start applying in the next week or so for something at the end of february. everything is feeling so uncertain now as i leave my past behind and begin to turn to a completely different direction and i pray i'm making the right decisions. note to self; remember to breathe.

love shape monster

here it is, a week before finals, and i'm still marking my mid-terms. i've been putting off correcting my 3rd year junior mid-terms as there were several short essay questions in the format, which means a somewhat tedious struggle to understand what my students are trying to express. upon getting into them, i realized i had forgotten how entertaining they can be. one of the questions on the test was 'describe your ideal date and be specific'. here's what a male student that goes by the nickname 'blurry' wrote;

we would meet and go to the pc room (internet cafe) to play the games
we buy some game items and fried chicken and go to house and make the love shape monster
sadly, this will never happen.....:(

i'm still chuckling over that one. romance lives!!

cadeauxs....

while driving back from sok'cho this evening, i was thinking about a future blog to write when i realized its the year aniversary of starting this site. i then began to remember where i was a year ago and the series of events that lead me to this moment; leaving sok'cho and saying good-bye to greg, the teacher training in chiang mai, the experiences in india, returning to thailand to study with jonas, new zealand to see melissa and say good-bye to greg, greg returning to korea where we once again parted ways only to repeat this event when i saw him in japan in june, the beginning of my new job as an english professor at kwandong uni, teaching more yoga than ever, a trip home to n.america with incredible family times and travel experiences, all leading to this past week in tokyo with john friend. this past year has not been easy as i've tried to determine the path that aligns most with my heart and my direction is still not always clear. but life has put some direct signs in front of me that, when followed, have allowed moments of pure joy and bliss. for these gifts, i send out gratitude.

livin' the dream.....

one of my favourite things about travelling is arriving into an unfamiliar place and feeling as though i will never be able to orient myself. every landmark seems so far apart and there is a slight anxiety that i will be constantly in a state of 'lostness'. along with that though is the excitement of getting out on foot and start exploring.
after flying into tokyo sunday afternoon, i took a bus into shinjuku , by far one of the busiest areas of the nation. the pulsating neon is home to the 5-day anusara immersion with john friend that began yesterday. i was lucky enough to find a place to stay that was under $100 a night, a score in fact, as i would be sharing an apartment with a few others that included a kitchen and laundry. it is also only one subway stop away. big, big, score. i left the apartment 75 minutes before the class was to begin but finding the studio was a difficult task. alas, the universe guided me along the way and before i knew it, i was seated amongst the yogi's and john, trying to get my heart rate slowed down from my hike to the location, and writing down two reasons why i study, as per requested by john. he only gave a a 2 or 3 minutes and i wrote what came to mind quickly. before i was finished, i heard my name called and john asked me to read out my thoughts. yikes. 52 pairs of eyes turned to me, including one of the greatest yoga teachers in the world. i was terrified and my heart was rapidly coming up my throat. . i swallowed hard and began to speak much what i wrote about in the previous post; how yoga helped me shed my outside layers so that i could truly see my essence. whew. after i finished, there was a small round pf applause and john intricately wove my words into the lecture he was teaching throughout the rest of the morning. i couldn't stop myself frm beaming for the whole day. there i was, almost exactly one year after being introduced to anusara, practicing with the man himself, receiving his adjustments and compliments (he said i was lucky because i had good feet!!!). what a gift! what an honour! what joy!
day two was a little achey. my body was feeling fatigued with all the muscular energy we're putting out, not to mention the length of time we are staying in the poses to really get the proper alignment. i still had an amazing day as i got to know more of yogin's. there is mostly japanese students as to be expected, but there is also 10 of us 'foreigners', most being yoga teachers who work in hongkong, singapore or australia. there are also a couple of san fran guys who've flown in for the week, one of them who knows govinda. ahhhh, the world grows smaller. i was lucky enough to have lunch with today with a few well-travelled japanese women who took me to the most fabulous turkish restaurant. over hummous, baba ganoush and warm, garlicky pita, we exchanged many stories and much laughter. after returning home, i decided to take care of my aches by getting a thai massage just down the road from where i was staying. it was by far one of the best i have received and tomika, the masseus, was more than happy to work deeply and strongly at my throbbing hamstrings. she was wonderful and we even had a small yoga session after she finished with me.
before i left korea, i ran into a friend from sok'cho who is considering moving here in the next year. he asked me to write a post while i was here and share some impressions of tokyo. well, i can say so far that it seems as though everyone speaks some english here and there is every ethinic food you could possibly want. i feel welcome here, its easy to get around and everyone has been willing to help me find my way when i get inevitably lost. i really enjoy the japanese style and the general cleanliness that you don't find in korea although i would miss the easy accessibility to the korean mountains. the aroma of fresh nan from the indian restaurant down the street could possibly win out though :)

human 'being'....

as i sit here surrounded by various ipods and yoga pants in attempt to pack for my trip to japan tomorrow, i have this unshakable feeling deep in my belly that something is my life is shifting. i feel slightly fearful, as i often do faced with change, but there is also a great sense of excitement, like when i was a child admiring our tree on christmas morning and thinking of all the gifts to be unwrapped. thats it. i feel like a present, ready to be tenderly opened.
i'm heading to tokyo for 6 days to study with the master and creator of anusara yoga, john friend. the thought of being in the presence of this man truly moves me. not in a 'movie star/groupie' kind of way but more with deep gratitude for the immense influence this style of yoga has had on me, my perspective, and my direction in life.
it's been a hellish week trying to sort out the time away from my university job. when i first received my acceptance to this course and was informed that a scholarship was available to me to offset the enormous cost, i thought i would never get permission from my school but i had to at least ask. after a two-week wait, the admin's said yes. 8 hours later, they changed their minds again and said no. whoa. at that point, i had already confirmed my arrangements and was faced with a decision; cancel the trip or face the possibility of not being re-signed next semester. luckily, i didn't have to verbalize my decision as the admin's came back a day later and, once again, said yes.
while this was all going on, i made a suggestion to my director's that perhaps i should go talk to the 'higher ups' but was told it was better to let things cool down. i offered to write a thank you letter. this idea also was turned down but then was reversed. seeing a trend here? well, it peaked this morning, less than 24 hours before i'm leaving, when i opened two emails from my directors saying if i valued my job, i had better meet with both of these 'higher ups' before i left. this was suppose to happen sometime between my 9 am to 3:30 pm classes on an extremely busy day for me. after much running around, i was able to track down the 'president' and sit with him for a few minutes in his office. with absolute clarity, i did my best to explain that i was unable to make a choice between my job and yoga because yoga is not something i do, it's who i am. everytime i do a training, workshop or simply step onto my mat, i unravel another layer to get to the inner essence of me and my true nature. it's in that place where i find my 'juice', my rasa, my passion as i continue to open my body, heart and spirit in ways previously incomprehensible to me. it is there where i become a human 'being', not a human 'doing'.