oops. i did it again

about half of the teachers in the school went on a little field trip of our own this weekend. we got in a bus after school friday and made our way 5 hours south and west. i managed to read all of franny and zooey. we all went to a restaurant friday night. but not just any restaurant, and im so sorry i dont have pictures, i was alittle overwhelmed.
so i walk into the restaurant and head through the kitchen to the bathroom. on my way back i noticed a couple LIVE octopi on the chopping table. the cook grabs one of them and starts chopping the legs off with a butcher knife. im thinking to myself, "that's kind of weird". then i get to the table and there are many small dishes with assorted foods, all raw, mostly fish, on the table. as im sitting down one of the dishes catches my eye. i look closer and see that it is indeed chopped up octopus, and what's more, its. still. moving. or perhaps writhing would be a more appropriate word. and then i see there is another dish that has red strips of meat that is also moving. i grabbed the most wriggly, piece i could find and put it in my mouth. needless to say, it was quite a sensation. the next day we ate at another restaurant (i guess this trip was octopus themed) where i had octopus soup. but not just any octopus. whole octopus. there was a whole octopus in my soup. i got a pic on my cell phone so maybe i can put it up sometime.
so after dinner fri night we went to a weird (of course) hotel where they had coops of pigeons, roosters, peacocks, geese, and white vultures (?) (see below).
the next day we woke up at the crack o dawn and headed for the mountain. it was actually a great hike. early there were few people. later the buses arrived. the weather was a little bit chilly and windy. i find myself oscillating dozens of times between feeling endeerment toward everyone with their hiking gear, walky talkies, hiking sticks, bear bells, cellphone ringers, yelling etc. and getting really really annoyed. i find the annoyance comes mostly when i have been hiking straight up and have been meditating on how stupid (i think) it is that they make their trails like this and i am also very tired. im getting better at it though.
it really surprises me how angry/frustrated/annoyed i can get. i though it wouldn't bother me so much. im gradually getting a better attitude. i find myself talking to myself at these times more and more and instead of saying "raca" or "you fool", saying (outloud many times, because i can say anything and they wont understand) "you knucklehead" or "you dummy" with a much more lighthearted and not a despising attitude; that this is how they do it and i dont get it and that's fine. all in all though it was really fun and i had a great time.

pwnd

korean mountains: 1, will: 2

me and some co-teachers. i guess they always have rocks up there to pose in front of.

i dont know these people

this reminded me of a scence from braveheart. there was a trail that ran the top. you cant really see it though.

@ the bottom

one time many years ago while hiking i came to an overlook of a mountain into a valley. it was beautiful. but what was i supposed to do next? i had this feeling that i wanted to take it in, absorb it, or else be absorbed by it. but all i could do was stand there. it was kind of depressing. sometimes i wonder that is the point of hiking/seeing great views. is this all there is? it was great to read C.S. Lewis talk about this exact same thing in surprised by joy. and what's the point of taking pictures? i like taking them for the blog. it gives me a kind of mission. but in general. why? would it not be better to let something happen and let it go; let it be what it was? why are we trying to steal these moments? we cant relive them again, and a picture seems to be almost an insult to what is photographed. for example in the picture above, when i look at it i cant actually feel the wind blowing my hair. or hear walkie talkies gurgling korean. or smell the leaves. what are we doing? is it to remind me that i was there at some point? that kind of makes sense because i have a terrible memory. and what does the more and more ubiquitous camera, especailly the digital camera do to how i view myself and reality? how would i think of myself (or not think of myself) if i had never seen my visage or body from 100's of different angles? im a wet blanket.

ps. this trip brought up another disturbing issue: why is it a faux paus to show a shred of your underwear as i sometimes inadvertantly do, but at the same time it is ok for a female coworker to pat your butt (and i mean pat your butt) when you have just been sitting in dirt? korea is certainly the land of contrast.