Forever Young

Hello hello!

Time for an update!

Saturday was the wedding of Grant Young and Gail Miles. Both are in my Biblestudy and Cheri and Zoo were at school with Gail. Being my first East London wedding, I was quite excited, and slightly in awe of the fact that I've been living here long enough to crack the wedding nod.

The ceremony was at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery, set to start at 3.30pm. I arrived precisely on time and had the momentary panic that I was late when I saw a Mercedes Benz stopped in the road with the emergency lights flashing. Trying to look elegant and unflustered (imagining scenes of awkwardness that would rival "4 Weddings and a funeral"), I moved with all speed towards the entrance and then breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when I saw it was just some random parked in the road.

The garden had been set-out beautifully, with the long walkway up to the main entrance serving as the aisle and the guests were seated on either side. Note 1 for attending an outdoors wedding: arrive early to secure a spot in the shade, or bring a hat. Most of us were sitting with the sun in our eyes. Sunburn can ruin the photo's.

I managed to find a seat that was in the shade for all of 10 minutes and took a moment to admire the flowers they had planted along the aisle (pink and white - it could only be Gail) and waited for the bride.

Arriving fashionably late, we were finally told to stand as the "Wedding March" began. Gail entered at the gate and began probably one of the longest walks down the aisle that I've ever seen. Of course she looked beautiful in her dress which a photo will describe more aptly than I ever could.

When she got to the front, we were all welcomed by Matt (the pastor), prayed and we sang. Note 2 for outdoor weddings: Lovely as they are, save the heels for the firmer ground. Being pegged to the ground is completely over-rated and if anything, makes it more difficult to stay upright. Then the Miles and Young family lit a candle to signify their families that Grant and Gail were leaving.

From there Matt performed the wedding ceremony, the registry was signed and then he gave a very short talk highlighting some passages from the Bible that speak about marriage. They then lit the candle to signify that they are a new family and we then formed an arch to throw confetti as they walked back down the aisle a married couple.

From there they had laid on a tea, where the 4-tier chocolate wedding cake extravaganza was eaten. Delicious. It was made by her younger sister Sandy and tasted amazing! While Grant and Gail disappeared off for photo's, we milled about in the usual pre-reception wait. Note 3 about outdoor weddings: Mosquitoes. Many of them. And hungry.

The reception was at the Osner Hotel on the beachfront. As the bridal couple arrived (to the song "Forever Young"), we all lit sparklers, which was a fantastic effect, until Gail bumped into one and flames appeared on her dress. Momentary panic. The fire was quickly extinguished and thankfully there was enough dress to easily hide the holes in the top layer.

The rest of the evening was great, a brief speech by her dad, Grant's brother and then his bestman also gave nice speeches. The dj interrupted and made an awkward joke about cattle from Bloemfontein, we ate, more speeches. Unusually,the bride also gave a speech, mainly thank-you's, but my tea-habit came up. Who knew addiction could make you semi-famous.

The rest of the evening was great, a brief speech by her dad, Grant's brother and then his bestman also gave nice speeches. The dj interrupted and made an awkward joke about cattle from Bloemfontein, we ate, more speeches. Unusually,the bride also gave a speech, mainly thank-you's, but my tea-habit came up. Who knew addiction could make you semi-famous.

Grant also made a speech, and the dj played havoc with the sound, making him sound like a chip monk at the start of his speech an other small things (apparently it's an Afrikaans thing?!), but he managed to redeem himself somewhat by getting everyone onto the very small dancefloor.

Around 11pm, Grant and Gail left, we all made an arch for them, and then, quite unexpectedly, the music stopped, the lights came on and it was time to go home.

But a good evening, an awesome wedding, and lots of fun.

random asides

I have had a rather random few days and I thought it was a good time to send an update from Korea.

Since the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent radiation issues we should no longer buy Japanese produce or meat...which was casually told to us by our Korean collegues. However, country of origin is not always listed AND if it is, it's listed in Korean - so it may as well not be listed when it comes to me. Good thing I don't eat meat at all now and spinach was never really a big deal in my life. I am also a bit paranoid now about the yellow dust and radiation rain. We had a random flurry of snow the other day (winter REFUSES to let go, it is still so cold here, lighter for longer, but icy icy still, it is getting to me, I am developing SADS, I am horribly grumpy and sad at the moment and I am almost positive it's the weather) sheesh, sorry for the distraction there, right where was I? Ok, so random snow fall last week, despite being cross about the cold I do still get disproportionately excited about snow. So as a class we all rushed to the window and watched the snow for a bit. Then when I was in the staff room I was merrily babbling away about the joys of snow when one of our Korean teachers, Lynn, said: 'oh no, it could be radiation rain. Make sure you don't get too wet. Be careful.'

Now that squashed any snow joy I was experiencing. We took a taxi home and tried not to get too wet with potentially cancer causing snow rain. Once we were in the taxi I had a paranoid hyperchondriac moment and thought my skin was burning slightly. Danielle swiftly informed me it was all in my head and I was to stop it immediately. 2 minutes away from home I tried to get some money out of my pocket and felt a tug. I thought I was just sitting on my mitten (witch is niftly attached to a string so I never lose them;) so I tried to move it only to discover that in my haste to get out of the possibly toxic rain I had closed the door on my mitten. Thus, not only was it randomly snowing in March there was also a white taxi driving along Pyeongchon with a red mitten frantically flapping in the door. It took a long time to dry and now I am a bit suspicious of it...it was exposed for a long time to the rain snow.

Gretel is now a rather large hedgehog (by hedgehog standards that is) and I have taken to letting her run lose in my apartment in the mornings while I am getting ready for work. Then I find her and put her back into her cage. But on Friday morning I forgot she was out and went off to work just being excited that it was Friday. I got home at about 7:30ish and recalled that she was on the lose. Now, my apartment is essentially a room, and there is no escape from this room if you are a hedgehog, which is why I wasn't too concerned about her being out. However, after a quick look in her usual haunts I could not find her. So I tried some other potential areas and still no Gretel. At this point was a big alarmed, she could only be under the bed...but I put up like a little fence around my bed so that I didn't have to worry about that when I fist got her. With not much enthusiasm I checked under my bed, but she was not there. At this stage I was really alarmed. But I was meeting friends for dinner and reckoned that I would leave some food out for her and go and when I came home and switched off the lights she would make a noise and I would locate her, hedgehogs are most active at night and they dont like bright lights, so I thought this was the best idea having looked everywhere she could have been.

Now, in Korean homes and some restaurants, you take your shoes off at the door and walk around with her socks on or slippers. I do this in my apartment too, so all my shoes are in my little entrance. As I was putting on my one boot I happened to lean over and look down, and what do I see, but a little prickly bundle squeezed tightly in my red leather boot. She was wedged right in there and try as I might I could not get her out. I skyped Danielle straight away and showed her the boot with Gretel inside, it was hilarious. But I was concerned that she was actually stuck in there and that I was going to have to cut my boot to get her out. I left my red boot sideways on the floor with a bowl of food at the opening and went to dinner. She had extracted herself by the time I came home, thankfully she had not poohed in my shoe (which was another concern) and I only had to extract 9 quills from the sheep skin...those quills hurt like something else when you stand on them.

Every month our pre-school classes have a field trip or an activity day. This month we went to the fire station. Since my last pre-school classes graduated to the first grade I have not been teaching pre-school, but I get more excited about the field trips than most of the kids, so I was invited along. Woot! Now, this fire station has an entire area created for educating children about what to do in fire situations. So they have a giant wall that they project fire scenarios onto and the children are taught how to use a fire extinguisher and then they have to extinguish the fire by spraying it! If they don't aim right or start soon enough then the fire consumes the room. It was fantastic to watch! Interactive video game that teaches you how to use a fire extinguisher. Yes please.

They also have a smoke passage, where it is really dimly lit and there is loads of smoke and you have to walk really low to the ground so you get some air and then find the exit. Fun fun fun.

Then they have a room which has a maze made out of cages with doors that open or are dead ends...they switch off the lights and there is only a red emergency light that flashes periodically and you have to find your way out of the maze using touch and hearing and some vision. Awesome.

Finally, they have an earthquake simulation room!~!!!! oh yes. They have built an entire kitchen on a raised platform and you have to sit at the kitchen table, each person is assigned a task to do, so I had to turn off the gas for the stove, then the mains had to turned off, a kitchen closet had to opened and then we all had to get under the table. For the teacher run they let us experience a 3.0 tremble and they worked it up to an 8! It was hectic, I felt all wobbly for ages afterwards. It was possibly too soon after the Japanese quake, but still a cool experience in a contained environment. Not for real real.

So that is my random news. I was devastated by the Protea's loss, but the team still did well to get where they did. I am missing home so much that I actually found myself streaming Algoa FM...it was a low point, it did make me feel better though.

Lovelovelove to everyone!

:)

Hello Old Friends J

It has been FAR too long! Fortunately I can console myself with the fact that you are all just as bad as me!!! So this year started out pretty much the same as every year – with me not being sure what i was going to do with my life and pretty much up for anything! I had to let Ulrike know what I was doing by the end of Jan so on the 31^st I decided that I would look for a real job anywhere in the world (narrowing it down this much was a big achievement for me!!) So on the first of Feb I started the job search.  After a week of searching I got an interview at this really cool place in Pietermaritzburg so on the Wednesday I flew to Durban at the crack of dawn and then rented a car (for a CRAZY price) and drove to PMB. To say the interview went badly would be an understatement. They were asking all sorts of difficult questions like when last was I involved in a project that included hydraulics and what did I get for my Design thesis  3 years ago! I started off well but was a stumbling, stuttering IDIOT by the end – awful.

Anyway I shook it off and drove back to Durban to catch a flight to CT where I packed up my stuff and put my CV online over the wkend. On Monday morning this recruiter phoned me and asked if i could go to an interview in PE the next day. I was like SURE!  Packed up Marco at top speed and set off. Spent the night in Mosselbaai and left the next morning for PE. I was just in time for the interview due to an issue at the toll booth (I arrived and didn’t have the R32 (!!!) toll so had to go back down the road for 20km to find an ATM and then come back – nightmare) Anyway the interview went well except that twice I answered the wrong question cos I had to guess the question as the guy’s Afrikaans accent was so strong.

Then I carried on the EL and went to my next interview the following day at Goba Consulting Engineers and Project Managers (www.goba.co.za) It too went well and shortly ther after I got the offer. It’s been awesome so far – I’m really really enjoying it J

Adjusting to life in EL has been a bit of a challenge. Poor B caught me on a particularly bad day and I spent our whole coffee catch up bitching about how I hated East London. That phase has passed. Now I’m feeling very zen about the whole thing. I’m actually getting into it J

I have my powerplate class and sewing class and pilates classes and am a (semi) firm fixture on the fun run circuit J

The first one the Tanj and I did was the Buffs 5km trail run about a month ago. I almost died a few times. Seriously. My heart rate was through the roof, my lungs were on fire and I almost fell on an electric fence (who puts a run RIGHT next to an electric fence – seriously???) Halfway through I told the Tanj to abandon me and carry on – she replied that she couldn’t because there was no-one else behind us to help me if I collapsed! (which was a real possibility!)  hahaha

Since then we have also done the Cabbage Patch in Komga and were supposed to do the Jevon’s one tonight but it was raining and I was concerned about the possibility of flash floods.  Hahahahaha

Having completed a week and a half of work by the middle of last week I decided I needed a break and took two days off to go the Cape with my parents to collect my furniture. We left on the Thursday at 4am and arrived at 7pm. Crazy. We got lost in Oudshoorn, Ladysmith and Wostercer. Honestly. We also stopped on a wine farm and stocked up for the next decade or two.

I’m looking forward to hearing all of YOUR news (hint hint hint)

J

Latest News from Libya.........

نور اگر رفت سایه پیدا نیست نقش دیوار و چشم خیره ما نقش سایه دگر نمی دان نور اگر رفت سایه. ر رفت سایه پیدا نیست نقش دیوار و چشم خیره ما نقش سایه دگر نمی دان نور اگر رفت سایه پیدا نیست نقش دیوار و چشم خیره ما

If I hear anything else, I'll let you know.....

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Hey guys!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend, hopefully something a little more extensive to come soon

Back Day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

Fun fact: In Korea and Japan on Valentines Day girls give boys chocolate/candy/gift (you get the idea)...and not boys to girls. Then they have White Day where boys give girls chocolate/sweets/gift...

AND THEN there is BLACK DAY...which is for single people to feel bad about themselves. Seriously though, there is black day and its for all the

single people to celebrate?? I dont know, but its for the lonely hearts column.

So now you know. Despite being a girl I got loads of chocolate from my students, which was delightful, but has resulted in a killer headache. lame.

Cath! I hope you are feeling better, Cheri and Tania informed me of the whole pilava. WOW. as traumatic as it is, it is also kinda cool having a medical emergency, especially since you are going to be ok.

love you all!

Included the random squirrel cos really thats how I feel about Valentines day.

108

Happy Korean Lunar New Year to One and All! it is now officially the year of the rabbit.

We celebrated the New Year by spending a night and two days doing what is called a Temple Stay. Myogaksa is the Buddhist temple we stayed at, it is in the centre of Seoul built on a mountain. Myogaksa is only 100 years old, which is really young in temple terms, but it radiates energy, peace and compassion.

Our leader is this wonderful quirky nun called Yeo Yeo. She is so inspiring and she led us through the initial stages of what it means to be a Buddhist and the life of a monk or nun in a temple. She also spoke about the 108 prostrations that every Buddhist should do every day. The prostrations are made up as follows (however I am open to correction), we have 6 senses (the five that we know plus thought) now those 6 sense can betray us and lead us astray in terms of leading a pure and compassionate life, and because we are not alone in this world we take our 6 senses and we multiply them by the 6 in another person that we may encounter in a day, so that gives us 36. Then, Buddha also speaks of time as being cyclical and continuous with their being no separation between past present and future (a linear (foolish) approach), so each time we restrict ourselves by the 3 tenses we are also limiting our capacity to open ourselves up to our inner Buddha mind. So 36x3 is 108. And there are your 108 prostrations...which convert to 108 bows that must be performed everyday. The bow has to include both your knees, your forehead and your palms touching the floor, a humble and low position to remind you that you are no more than the lowest person in the world. Make no mistake, the bows are strenuous and a killer on your knees and quad muscles.

When you arrive you are given orange trousers and a top to put on, this is your garb for the duration of the stay. We looked like we could have been on the set of prison break, while also looking kinda zen and cool. it was strange, but super comfy. Our first task was to learn about the basic tenents of Buddhism and the 3 minds one has to let go of before you can access your inner Buddha. Which was fascinating, the first layer is your Greedy mind, then your angry mind and finally your foolish mind. We have such an abundance of all three that it is a daunting task trying to let go of all of that...but one can only every try. So we have begun to acknowledge those 3 states of unhappiness. After this talk, we had the opportunity to go to the bell and help the nun gong the bell. The bell is rung twice every day, it is about 12 times at 5am (I say about because I tried to count this morning, but I was too caught up in the view and the sensation of it all that I lost count, my bad) and 7 times at 4:30pm It is a giant ancient bell that has a deep resonating sound that pulsates right to your bones. Like a heavy base speaker, only less aggressive on your senses, this just penetrated right into your body and then reverberated around your skin until the next gong. It was magnificant, and if I had to go after that I would not have felt cheated in any way. The nun chants while she is moving the giant wooden gong towards the bell, 3 at a time we got to place our hands on the wooden gong and swing it with her.

From the bell ringing we silently made our way into the actual temple, chanting room, for their evening service. No talking is allowed, so we duly copied everything the nun did and we have our first taste of doing multiple bows. It is heavy going, but so elevating at the same time. The temple is magical and painted in the Korean Buddhist style. The colours are the Korean national colours: blue, green (mainly), yellow, white, red and black. With a healthy dose of gold. The ceiling and walls were covered in lotus flowers, dragons and Buddha's. The Buddha statue was gold and mesmerising. Sadly that was the only time we were allowed in the temple.

From there we went back into the meditation room and began our own 108 prostrations, with a twist. Each time we lifted our heads from the floor (but not actually the floor, we had lovely mats) we strung a juniper wood bead onto thread. At first my pile of beads seemed to not dwindle at all, but my legs were stinging and I thought my knees were going to give out altogether. But then you get into it and you just relax into it and in no time (45 min) my beads were finished and I had done my first (and not my last) prostrations and I also had my own meditation beads to boot! They smell delicious and are soft to the touch, I never want to take them off. In a slightly stiff manner we all went to eat dinner, which was all vegetarian (my heart was so happy) and scrumptious.

Now came the tricky part. Our first meditation. We were asked to sit in lotus position, which is so difficult, but thankfully I was able to sustain it for 2 out of 3 meditation sessions before my ankles protested too much and I though I was never going to be able to unfurl them ever again. This session lasted 10 min only, but it felt like an hour and throughout that period it was almost impossible to stop the thoughts from entering my mind. We were supposed to concentrate on our breathing and count every breath...so hard. It takes a training monk or nun 2 years to master the counting to 100 without having any other thoughts. Only then will your zen master give you a single word to recite over and over, often the word is 'nothing', because this is the state you want to achieve with your mind - a state of nothing where you can view your mind and actions as if from a distance. Sheesh. It is difficult. We did 2 more meditation sessions this morning, that nothing state is very far off for me.

Sleep time was tricky for me as all the women were in a single room on Korean style floor mattresses. One person snored loudly and I was finished for the rest of the night. I didnt get much sleep what with my own sinus pain and the other individuals loud nasal emissions. So 4:30 rolled around and I was only too eager to get off the floor and back into action. We were not allowed to talk at all when we woke up until after out meditation session. So all morning activities were done in silence, which was bliss. We assissted with the bell once again and then headed on down for our meditation. from there, with the sky still very much without a sun, we went up to learn about the life of the Buddha we all know, who really is only one of the Buddha's. They have a series of 8 paintings depicting the main elements of his life, so Yho Yho taught us about his life and teachings and then we were quizzed. Wonderfully my mom had taught me most of it just through our long chats lazing on her bed or from various films we watched, so I aced the quizz. woot! For our efforts we were each given another smaller set of meditation beads that go on our wrist, so we can have them on us always. Once our tummy grumblings became too loud Yho Yho released us into the dining hall where we ate tons of food to get ourselves ready for our hike up the mountain. So beautiful and punctuated with the history of Korea and how Seoul was built according to Feng Shui between 3 mountains. Korea has such a deep heritage, it is quite astounding.

Our hike included a brief swing on the highest swing in Seoul - hilarious and so much fun, we reckon we will go back to that swing.

Once back at the temple we had our final activity, which was a traditional Korean tea ceremony. Which is surprisingly complex and steeped in Korean Buddhist heritage, it was amazing being a part of that.

Sadly we had to derobe and gather in the main courtyard to say farewell...however we were given the opportunity to meet their zen master! who came out and greeted us and said that we were a special group as we had ushered in the new year with Myogaksa.

The whole experience was magical.

I miss you all and wish you would come visit me, I would take you straight to Myogaksa.

love you