The Internet Ramblings of the QiRanger

The past two days have been very different. Friday saw most of the usual, withe me going to the gym and continuing to work out as I normally do in each day (I’m also contemplating on running in the Nike 10k this September). Then off to school for the last day of my work week. As with most days at work, it passes slowly until the last few minutes of class. during that 9.50-10pm section of class, I decided to reward my class by showing them one of my travel videos from the US.

The experience was something unique for them, since they had spent so much time reading about the US, but never really seeing it. I think the fact that I was appearing in large HD was also a factor. But none-the-less, it proved to be a great way to end the class, since they had several questions about Wupatki National Monument.

Following school, I went home to drop off the computer and head out to the Rose Cafe to see Kim See In perform. Now you may remember a little story about me sitting out in the quad using the Internet one morning with a man came up to me and gave me a ton of free food. Well, I finally made it to see him play. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I still had a lot of fun. You see, he plays in a Hostess Club. This is a bar that employs young women to flirt and spend time with male patrons in an effort to get them to drink a lot. As a result, these young ladies get a percentage of the sales. Sometimes the evenings lead to sex and since there’s a Love Motel above the bar, easy enough to arrange.  What Kim See In does at the bar is run the Karaoke Machine and play the piano. While I was there, I had the opportunity to sing a ton of songs and meet some really interesting characters. They welcomed me into their groups and allowed me to sample their food and drink… for free.

It was a late night and resulted me in getting a slow start today. As a result, I didn’t have a lot of time to talk with Jo via Skype before she headed home and I headed out to explore. Even though our time was short, it was a much needed shot in the arm, as I relish each time I get to see and speak to her.

The Main Gate

Then, after a good 90 minutes of traveling, I found myself at Inwangsan. It’s a small mountain located near the northern edge of Seoul (in close proximity to Gyeongbok and Changdok palaces. On this mountain are a collection of Buddhist and Shamanistic temples that have coexisted for hundreds of years.

The largest of the Buddhist temples is Bongwonsa. While it was closed during my visit, I was fortunate to see several ritual rites being performed in a smaller temple nearby. The other main attraction is Guksadang. This small Shamanistic Temple was originally built on Namsan, but when the Japanese destroyed it in 1925, it was rebuilt here. I felt very honored to go inside and see the interior.

Interior of Guksadang

I was really moved by the way that the people here paid respect to their elders and their faith. It really made me with more would do so throughout the world. For more sights of the trek, check out the album.