Spring Photos

I went out and took some pictures of the spring foliage last night. Enjoy!!

One of those days...

...when you sleep late but don't feel rested.
...when your insecurities get the better of you.
...when your co-teachers advise you to give up on students.
...when you become aware of your faults and feel like an idiot.
...when you know it's going to be another boring evening.
...when you're pretty sure another helping of kimchi will kill you.
...when you feel crabby and there's no clear reason why.
...when you want to watch the news but your cable provider no longer carries that channel.
...when you know you're being a whiner but can't stop.
...when you want to talk but don't want to say anything.
...when you feel like making decisions about your future is like playing roulette.
...when you want to apologize but wonder if it's necessary.
...when blogging does nothing to alleviate your frustrations.

Hmph.

Open Letters

Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading my blog. If I had a penny for every word or thought I've wasted in this Blogger black hole, I'm pretty sure I'd be a millionaire several times over by now. But unfortunately, aspiring writers like myself don't get paid money to blog. We get paid in comments. So help a friend out. Put in your two cents by clicking "comments" at the end of this post. (That was a good pun, eh? You should definitely go comment now.)
Much Obliged,
Twenty-First Century Nomad

Dear Cupid,
Okay, buddy. You got me once and you got me good. You can stop pelting me with your love-drenched arrows now. :)
Blissfully Bruised,
Twitterpated

Dear Peace Corps,
Why didn't you clear me and accept me back in August when I really wanted it? Now things are complicated and I'm not sure I really want to go anymore. I know I accepted your invite, but don't be surprised if I eventually reject it. Twenty-seven months is a long commitment and if you add on the year I've already spent here in Korea, that makes nearly three and a half years overseas... Now, three years isn't too bad, but to spend all that time teaching... I'm not sure I'm okay with that... Stay tuned, okay? Things are likely to change...
Your's Truly,
Hesitantly Committed

Dear Jack Frost,
I'm glad you received my last letter and have accommodated my requests to relocate, but I'm hearing reports that you have relocated to the PNW? Is that true? Really, Jack, someone should give you a map! The northern hemisphere is moving into summer; the southern hemisphere is moving into winter. You're really confusing people up there. They can't have 80 and 36 degree weather in the same week... It's not good for the tulips, you know... 6 inches... Really... That's just showing off...
Sincerely,
Native Northwest-er

Dear Laptop,
Hang in there. Brain surgery is never comforting but I assure you I've found you a really good surgeon and I promise to visit you real soon. I'm sure you'll make a quick recovery too.
Love,
The One Who Tickles Your Keys

Dear Little Niece-in-Stacy's-Belly,
I can't wait to meet you. I hear so much about you these days and you're not even here yet! I hear you like to kick a lot and are growing real fast. Take it easy, okay? There's no big rush. In the meantime, consider a few little pearls of wisdom. 1. Carrots and ketchup don't taste good together. 2. Barbie underwent lots of plastic surgery to look the way she does. 3. You can never have too many shoes. 4. Try not to procrastinate on Sundays because you'll regret it when there's no time to do your homework Monday morning. 5. Baking cocoa doesn't work for hot chocolate.
Anxiously Awaiting your Arrival,
Aunt Kortney

Dear Landlord,
It's been nice having a swimming pool in my bathroom but I'm starting to miss dry floors. Do you think you can do something about my plugged drain? I consider myself a chopstick master but not even my superhero chopstick skills can unclog it. I think it's going to require something more... Possibly some tools... Maybe a special drain solution... But seeing how I don't read Korean very well, I'm not sure which one to buy... I'm hoping you can take care of this issue. Especially since I pay you $30 a month to the place running. Thanks.
Regretfully,
She Who Hates Korean Apartments
PS: I think I have a gas leak too... My bill has been unreasonably high...

Dear Construction Workers Outside my Window,
I realize that you need to make a living somehow, but may I suggest that you start making it after 8 a.m.? I'm really tired of waking up at 6 a.m. to hammers, clanging metal pipes dropped from more than 20 feet, jig saws, shouting in Hangul, and all those large trucks driving up and down my street. I'm also not a big fan of construction workers peeking into my window as I try to dress in the morning. Have some respect, please.
Regretfully,
Trying to Sleep in

I say do it anyway.

I was listening to a song this morning by Jack Johnson called Rodeo Clowns and one of the lines caught my attention; is says: "He tried to live but he's done trying, not dead but definitely dying."

Oh, Jack--you lyrical sage.

What he says is true. If you're not actively trying to make your life exciting--worth living--then everyday you exist is nothing more than another number on the count down. If you're not actively living then you're actively dying.

I was talking with my co-teacher today about her English skill level (which is really good, btw) and I told her that she would certainly able to live in a western country with a significant amount of ease. Her response: "Oh, I wish, but my current situation won't allow it." I hear this all the time. I don't have the money. I don't have the time. I don't have the education. I don't have the language skills. I'm stuck in my job. I have car payments.

Here's what I say: if you want something, you have to make it happen yourself. We all make our own destiny. And don't just sit there and pray for it to happen either--I'm a firm believer that God helps those who help themselves.

The first thing to getting anything done is simply making a plan. Request the days off. Make a budget. Take the first step and buy a ticket. (Chances are that if you have that ticket in your hand then you won't waste it--you'll find away to make that trip work.) Sell your car (gas is too expensive anyway). Go back to school and study whatever makes you happy. If what you want is big and dependent on numerous variables, then make goals--short term (5 months) and long term (2 years), and make small short term plans to meet those goals.

But no matter what, do what you know you want and not what you think you need. What life is worth living if you're not daily doing the things you love to do? It's just too short, my friends. (Just to clarify things, I'm not encouraging irresponsible behavior because it satisfies the wants. Obviously some needs must be met before we start working on those wants but one should never abandon the wants because of their needs. To separate the two is to buy into a false dichotomy.)

Live. Love. Laugh. Carpe diem.

Favorite Five Friday

I've been toying around with this Top Ten idea for a couple weeks now but forgot to post one on Tuesday, so I figured I'd make up for it with a favorite five today.

Five Favorite Reasons for Visiting Seoul

1. Jeremy
2. Octopus
3. Tripod
4. Hot Aussie
5. International Man of Mystery

(I know, it's an inside joke.)

Priceless

A new friend recently introduced me to the EV Boyz (that's English Village Boyz): a couple of wacky wae-guks who've obviously had a lot of time on their hands. I liken them to a NKOTB/Vanilla Ice love-child band. Consider this an accurate commentary on Korean culture. :)

Update on the Bak Family

I've talked with Mr. Bak and his wife several times now and everyone seems to be doing okay. They all left the hospital today and Mr. Bak is back at school. It's funny to see people's reaction now that everything is over. His wife works at the girls school where no one seems to know what happened, yet at the boys school where he works, I'm already getting loads of emails from people talking about how heroic it all was.

I guess that's true--it was pretty heroic--but I'm not really sure how to react when people start praising me for what I did. I mean, what other option did I have? It's not like I could have sat there and let them drown... So I find myself a little confused when people do say something. One of my co-teachers from the boys school told me she started crying when she heard the story. What do you say about that? I know that what I did was good and all, but I also feel like I couldn't have handled things a little better too... I really did freak out a couple times...

I guess that part of the confusion comes from receiving praise I've actually earned as opposed to the normal empty praise that constitutes most Korean conversations. Humility is an awkward thing...

Oh, and btw, good news: no broken bones. Everyone is whole and happy.

And for those of you who've been wondering about my emotional state, I'm doing fine. :) I've had LOTS of down time and several days to sleep off all the stress. In fact, I'm so surprised by how much I've slept! But I feel fine. I'm glad I typed out the story on Sunday because it helped me process things a little more and confirm that it all really happened. I've also had ample opportunity to talk with some of my family which has made the recovery a little better too. Other than that, things just seem a little surreal and distant right now. I feel fine, though. But I'll keep you updated if things change!

Thanks for all your prayers, support, emails, and comments! It's so nice to know you're cared about in situations like this. Much love from Korea!

Hiking this Weekend: Part 2

Jun Hyeon, Hyeon Su, and Mr. Bak

I have no idea how to start this story. It's taken me hours to get this far--just writing the first sentence. What happened yesterday will no doubt remain forever vivid in my mind. Yesterday I rescued two hypothermic people from the freezing waters of a mountain stream--Mr. Bak and his 9 year old son Jun Hyeon.


This is where we had been hiking: the famous heart rock near Mung Yeoung. (All photos were obviously taken long before the accident occurred.) The stream has formed a small waterfall (maybe 20 feet tall) that over time has hollowed out the rock it once flowed over to create a heart shaped pool below it which must have been at least 10 feet deep. Then, spilling over, the rushing water has hollowed out a second pool below the first, perhaps another 10 feet deep or so; both pools having sheer sides and slippery granite rock under the water. While it was possible to climb down to the pools' edge, it was incredibly difficult as well because of the sheer angle of the rocks and thus we tried to stay away from the rocks' edge.

Well, how things started: we were sitting above the water fall on a big rock, enjoying a picnic, when Hyeon Su discovered some frog eggs a little farther up stream. I had busied myself watching Jun Hyeon playing in the water but at Mr. Bak's incessant urging, turned away to follow him and his son to look at the frog eggs. I kept looking back at Jun Hyeon, just to keep an eye on him, but eventually got a little preoccupied. Unfortunately, I was the only one that had been watching the boy. Little more than a minute had passed since I last checked on the boy, when I noticed that I couldn't hear him playing in the water anymore. I turned around to look for him and couldn't see him either. That's when I heard his faint cries and I knew instantly what had happened: he fell down the waterfall and into the hollow pool below.

Screaming, I caught Mr. Bak's attention, who began screaming himself as he ran through the water to the other side of the water fall (the left in the photo above). Meanwhile, I ran to the top of the rocks and saw Jun Hyeon treading water below the waterfall in the first pool, screaming and crying for his father. And that's when Mr. Bak fell in. Of course he was only thinking about his son (I probably would have done the same thing) but he panicked and didn't stop to think about the best way to reach him, and consequently ran down the wrong side of the water fall where the rocks were covered in moss and wet leaves with no easy access to the water's edge, and I watched him fall on the rocks, busting up the camera around his neck, plummeting into the pool less than a foot away from his son. Now they were both in the water and screaming for help. The rock walls were too steep to climb out of and the rocks were to wet and slippery to pull themselves out on. The only people left to help were me and Mr. Bak's other son, Hyeon Su.

I quickly took off my purse and set it on the ground along with my phone just in case I fell in, and hurriedly slid my way down the rocks on the right side of the pool so that I could help pull them out. As you can see in the pictures above and below, the first pool narrowed at a point where it gradually spilled into the second pool below--this was the only accessible place to pull them out. Once I got down there Mr. Bak pulled his son to the water's edge and pushed while I pulled his son out. However, in the meantime, his son's foot got wedged between some rocks and he was stuck halfway in the water. Mr. Bak began to panic and I'm not quite sure what he did or why he did it, but before I knew it he was trying to climb out over his son and fell forward into the second pool--a much more dangerous place to be. Focusing on the crying and screaming boy in my arms, I straddled the stream, reached down into the water, and yanked his foot free, pushing his legs and butt up the rocks as I tried to get him out of the water. But he was crying so hard and was shaking uncontrollably--obviously in shock--and couldn't move; I couldn't get him to climb up the rocks and to safety with me. He was much to scared. It didn't help that he barely spoke English and I barely spoke Korean. Meanwhile, Mr. Bak was floating in the second pool below, screaming, "Help, Kortney!" while I screamed back, "Swim dammit! Swim!" and the other son, Hyeon Su, watched from the trail above the stream, screaming and crying along with the rest of us. I was so sure these two were going to die. The boy had been in the water for about 6 minutes or so and was already hypothermic and there was no clear way to get the father out either: the second pool had a shallow shelf that under the water that prevented me from getting closer to Mr. Bak and prevented him from climbing out (there was no gradual tapering off of shelf--it was a clean drop to the bottom of the pool and the granite rock was slicker than snot).

I started to panic myself as I realized how precarious the situation had become. I started to cry myself which only made things worse as the shaking boy in my arms sobbed even harder, the boy on the hill began screaming and crying "Abochi!" ("Father!"), and the father looked at me with helpless eyes. I felt like it was over. I felt like there was nothing I could do. I kept yelling at Mr. Bak to take off the backpack he was wearing so that he could swim better and climb out but he either didn't understand what I said in English or he didn't see the wisdom in my pleas. The situation was beyond out of control and was teetering on the edge of perilous; by now Mr. Bak had been in the water about 8 or 10 minutes--much too long for water at that temperature. Growing up in the NW and being familiar with the dangers of hypothermia, I knew that he didn't have time.

So I pulled myself together. This was no time to lose it. The more upset I got, the less useful I was and the more upset both kids got. I took off my sopping shoes and socks and started crawling my way up the rocks. When I got to the top, I grabbed my cell phone and ran down the trail to where the Hyeon Su was crying and I shoved the phone in his hands, motioning like I was making a phone call, and said, "Call help! Call help! Okay? Call help!" and I ran down the trail a little farther to where I could climb out onto the rocks at the bottom of the second pool. But my jeans were soaked and were starting to get wrapped around my legs, so in a moment of clarity, I took them off, thinking, "If I don't I'm definitely going to fall in, and if I fall in, I definitely won't be able to swim with them on." Then I ran to the rock's edge and tried to reach Mr. Bak but he couldn't reach me, and I had no leverage to keep myself on dry ground. This is where I panicked a second time and started screaming for God to help me, to show me what to do. And then I remembered what probably saved his life: there was a rope strung along the trail above and I could use that to pull him in. So I ran up the trail once more, struggling to keep my balance on the edge of the rocks, and started trying to un-knot the old ropes. I kept glancing back at Mr. Bak who's breathing had slowed dramatically, was taking longer blinks, was moving less, and remained unresponsive every time time I asked him a question. I thought I would lose him. Unfortunately the rope was knotted around several trees and tied to several other ropes. This made it impossible for me to drag the rope to good place for pulling him out; the rope wouldn't reach beyond the steepest face of the rocks on the right side. However, it did reach Mr. Bak in the water and he was at least able to pull his upper half out, getting his heart above and out of the icy water--a very good sign, though he screamed with pain as he did so. By this time, he had been in the water somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes but I figured that as long as he could hold himself halfway out, he had at least another 5 minutes, and I needed to turn my attention to Jun Hyeon, the boy I pulled out earlier.

Carefully running over to where he sat curled up on the rocks by the water's edge, I started telling him to take off his clothes. Everything he was wearing was made of cotton and as you know, cotton kills. So I started taking off his clothes and putting my own (which were dry) on him. His father kept saying, "It's okay! Just follow directions!" which gave me even more hope because he was finally talking. And just as I got Jun Hyeon's coat and three shirts off, that's when our much needed help arrived: a group of hikers had just walked out of the woods above the waterfall and heard our screams. They were able to pull Mr. Bak the rest of the way out of the water and swing the rope over to where the boy and I were perched. The boy was still hysterical and screaming but at least there was someone else there to help. By myself, I just couldn't get him to move. So I flipped him over on his stomach and said, "Okay! We need to climb! Let's go! Climb, okay?" And I pushed his butt up the rocks to within reach of several hikers who grabbed his hands, put the rope in them, and guided him up the rock wall.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bak was just reaching the trail and I crawled my way up the wall to reach him where he just grabbed me in the tightest hug imaginable, saying, "Thank you, thank you," between gasps of air. When he finally let go, so did I. I was crying so hard I could hardly put my pants back on. (I'm sure that I'll have to explain later why I took my pants off--the Korean hikers were looking at me a little funny.)

I grabbed the other son, Hyeon Su, who was sobbing on the side of the trail, and led him up the hill to the top of the waterfall where the hikers had started a fire and set Jun Hyeon and Mr. Bak by it to warm up. There were lots of questions and frantic chatter going around along with my phone which was ringing like mad with Koreans on the other end (I didn't even bother answering--I'd just pass it to a hiker every time it rang). I kept hearing my name over and over as Mr. Bak explained what happened at the Koreans just stared at me with a curious fascination. I can't imagine how things looked to them. I was without pants and close to losing my shirt when they showed up, running around with no shoes or socks, bouncing back and forth between my own bouts of hysteria (I was so over whelmed!) and perfect sanity. And then every once in a while Mr. Bak would reach out, grab my hand and refuse to let go, saying, "Thank you," and "I'm sorry." But I was sorely unimpressed with the Koreans. For all their hyped-up hiking gear, they generally have absolutely no clue what to do in emergencies. I kept telling them that they needed to get Jun Hyeon out of his socks and shoes because they would continue to keep him cold but no one would listen. And Mr. Bak needed to get out of his wet clothes too but it was hopeless communicating that, so I just sat there, watching and praying that the situation wouldn't worsen.

Lucky for us, there was road access above the waterfall and before long an ambulance came rumbling through the woods. The EMT's loaded us up and all four of us were soon headed back to the emergency room in Jeomchon. On the way, Jun Hyeon was wrapped up in several blankets and the EMT helped me get his clothes off (I'm so glad someone knew what they were doing!), but the EMT seemed a little careless when she allowed Mr. Bak to drift off asleep on the ambulance bench. Oh well. It was their show at this point and if he was going to drift off into a coma, at least it would be their problem.

Once we arrived at the hospital, they were rushed into the emergency room, had hot water bottles shoved under their arms and were smothered in blankets. A lot of poking commenced as well. They figured that the boy broke his skull just between his left eye and temple during the fall and I suspect that maybe his foot is broke too from me pulling it out of that rock trap. They were taking him in for x rays or a CAT scan just as I left but it sounds like everything is fine. Later that night Mr. Bak called me from the hospital to tell me he was sorry and thank you (again) and to let his son Jun Hyeon talk to me too--he said he was fine, that he didn't know if he had any broken bones (or else the "I don't know" meant "I don't understand English..." One or the other...) and that they were still in the hospital.

Hopefully they can go home today but in typical Korean fashion, I'm sure that they'll be there for a while. Koreans over medicate and over react about every medical dilemma. They tried to make me stay too and kept taking my temperature despite my insistence that I was fine. And so I went home and tried to decompress. Courtney came over and we shared a couple cups of tea while talking about what happened. Then I grabbed about an hour of sleep before the construction workers outside my window woke me up. I had such a bad headache and my body hurt so much from running around all day. It's funny how you don't notice all the things your body goes through in the face of an emergency. Later, while watching tv, I noticed that I had torn all the skin off the ball of my foot and had several rocks lodged in there. I didn't feel a thing. I had no idea that happened. I talked with another friend on the phone for a while which made me feel a lot better and I fell asleep again for about four hours. I woke up a couple more times in the night, called my mom, called my sister, and ate a little food, but I'm feeling really good now. I think I slept about 12 hours in total yesterday/last night.

In retrospect, everything seems so surreal. I can't believe that we found ourselves in that situation and actually made it out. I'm surprised by myself, that I actually pulled off all that I did and managed not to seriously hurt myself in the process. But mostly I'm grateful. I'm so grateful that everyone made it out okay. I can't tell you how many times I started crying because I realized that I almost witnessed a father and son die together and how tragic that would have been for the second son who was watching the whole time. So many things went wrong and so many things went right at the same time. The whole time I was running around I just kept praying, "God, don't let these people die! Show me what to do! Keep my mind clear so I can do what you need me to do!" I'm so glad that He heard my prayer. I'm so glad that rope was there and that I knew to grab it. I'm so glad those hikers showed up and were able to get everyone back to safety. Things could have easily gone the other way but they didn't. I don't know how I would have made it through if they had. But the most eye opening moment of all was sitting there in the emergency room and seeing Mr. Bak's wife (a teacher from my girl's school) walk in, wide eyed and worried, hugging her family and then hugging me as well. Their family is still together because of what I did, because so many things went right.

Anyway, I don't have much left to say. It's enough that I was actually able to write this out. ...Some 8 hours later... But I think this may be my greatest memory from Korea.

Hopefully I'll have more good news to share with you soon as the aftermath of our adventure unravels.

Hiking this Weekend: Part 1

Despite the rather cloudy weather, we all expected Saturday to be a great day for hiking. For over a week now I had been planning to go hiking with the music teacher from Munchang--a professional photographer--in hopes he could show me some of Mung Yeoung's more remote beauties and maybe even a thing or two behind the lens. Along for the adventure were his two sons: Jun Hyeon (9) and Hyeon Su (8).

Our first stop was this beautiful stream high in the mountains (wish I could remember it's name) where the rocks were broken in huge slabs and wild cherry trees littered the ground with fallen blossoms.

While walking around there, a really nice lady brought her dogs out for a walk and we all had a good time playing with them.

We all spent about an hour at this location before moving on further up the road to the notorious heart rock in what I figured would be the highlight of the trip. And it was...

19 km later...

Last weekend I hit the trail with a couple teachers for a 19 km hike up to Mung Yeoung Sae Jae's 3rd gate. For those of you who don't know, Mun Yeoung Sae Jae is a state park preserving the provincial gates high in the mountains where Confucian scholars of more than a hundred years ago used to travel along ancient roads to Seoul for a yearly conference of the world's (peninsula's) greatest minds. It's also a historical battle site where in 1592 Koreans battled the Japanese and both sides lost in a stale mate at the first gate.

The third gate.

Paintings within the third gate entrance.

A waterfall on the way up.

The two teachers who hiked up with me.

The second gate.

An interesting wood formation caused by a broken branch. I just happened to look up an see it as I was walking along. I think it looks like a giant rat. Lots of people say it looks like a bird. What do you think?

We stopped to eat lunch on the way up and there was this old Korean hippie man playing saxophone at the restaurant. He kept hitting on me and asking me out on a date. I was so grossed out. Not even flattered. Then he started playing a song for me in front of everyone, even announcing the dedication to the audience through the microphone. Can you say awkward?

An interesting water fixture on the way up the mountain.

New Post

Okay, so I posted another post about Thailand but it went in under April 8th, so scroll down to see/read it. More to come (hopefully!) this weekend! Happy reading!

Tuesday Top Ten

Top 10 Things to do in Jeomchon

1. Watch movies--either at my house or at the DVD bang
2. Hiking at Mung Yeoung Sae Jae
3. Eat breakfast bagles with Courtney at Dunkin Doughnuts
4. Swimming at the city pool
5. Walk or run at the city stadium
6. Norae Bang or Karaoke with Koreans
7. Play badminton after school with Munchang teachers or Romeo's badminton club
8. Bowling with young Korean teachers
9. Try new restaurants or coffee shops
10. Sleep

Thailand Days 11-12: Koh Lao Lieng

Welcome to paradise! (Note to reader: unlike other Thailand posts, this one is not in chronilogical order. Sorry.)

After a lazy morning on the beach and a nice lunch of cashew chicken (chased with one of those scrumptous pina coladas!), we jumped in a long tail boat and departed from Koh Sukorn, bound for the rocky pinnacle called Koh Lao Lieng--a private island visable from the Koh Sukorn resort and home to one of the Adaman Sea's many tiny fishing villages. We hardly saw the fishermen though and barely even noted their presence on the tiny island (that is until day two) which made everything rather peaceful for us. For two days we did little more than sleep on the sand, sleep in the hammocks, snorkel off the beach, and play with the village puppies.

Michelle, Dane and Will out playing volleyball in the water.

Our perfectly secluded beach.


Michelle and I taking in a little shade between sun bathing stints.

And yes, this is exactly how blue and beautiful it was. I have done absolutely no editting to this photo (in case you were wondering). That little dot left of center is Michelle snorkelling. She was a little skeptical of venturing out when we all started complaining about the sea lice, but eventually she swam out and we could hadly get her back in!

Wanna play ball? Big Willy (right) and Great Dane (left) getting ready to hop in.

Michelle coming in from snorkelling and exclaiming about all the amazing fish she saw!

What did I say? Sleeping and reading in hammocks.

Those hammocks were probably one of the island highlights (as strange as that sounds). They provided the best place for everyone to sit and chat in the evening. One night Zoey, Abi, James, Rosie, Jenny, and I all shared the hammocks and spent hours telling ghost stories, love stories and reading all the smutty articles out of a well-loved Cosmopolitan magazine (one that must have circled all the ladies in our group at least twice in two weeks). The boys found it quite interesting and would occassionally comment from the insides of their tents, shouting things like: "Do girls really think like that?"

In the evening on day two a big storm started coming in and brought with it some perfect waves for body surfing. I had the best time flinging my body up onto shore--even though I was alone and got all cut up by broken coral pieces on the sand!

Later that night (day two), at the bidding of all us girls, the boys went out into the jungle and fetched us some wood for a bon fire on the beach and we all sat around, getting toasty, listening to the ocean, and watching lightning far off and over the ocean.

An absolute must see: A short video of us all chasing crabs across the beach in the dark. I wish I could post it here but blogger and YouTube don't get along very well and sometimes I can't make it embed. So if you can't see it below, please click here. :)

Also interesting to note, appearently our island had been hit by the tsunami a couple years back and since then most beaches have put up evacuation signs. I was really surprised to find one on our island since it was so secluded, but it's reassuring to see that the Thai government is taking measures to prevent more death in the unlikely event that another tsunami should hit.As hinted at earlier, we hardly noticed the fishing village until the morning of day two. I had been out snorkeling in the deep water with a few others all day and we returned to find a few guys like this one above hanging out on our island. Appearently, while we were gone the Thai Marine Police showed up on our island and decided to finger print and search homes, looking for drug traffickers. But just as surprised as we were to see them, they were surprised to see us. When they showed up, several of us were out with our team leader/interpreter and weren't expecting to find 8 farangs (foreigners) with no interpreter (the rest of us were out on the boat with our team leader). So, in their broken English, they asked to search some belongings and started looking for passports. Rumor has it that a couple of the girls in our group had some pot with them on the island and started freaking out when the police arrived, so they barried it. But who knows. If they did, it's a good thing they weren't caught. Thailand isn't too kind to foreigners in possession of drugs. When we returned, we found the 8 people left behind quietly huddled together, chatting in frantic whispers about the police roaming around with AK47s in their hands. I didn't think they looked to bad but the rest of our group were all freaked and secretly trying to take photos from under towels and such. Meanwhile, the police sat around with the local Thais, laughing and sharing beers.

Insert Mi-Guk (that's Korean for American foreigner).

Living in a foreign country (or traveling extensively) kind of dissolves that part of your conscience that says, "Oh no! You can't do that!" And so I thought I would show all of the other farangs how to get a picture of something truly interesting: go ask. And I did. I picked up my camera and said, "Hey, if you want photos, don't try to sneek them. Just go ask." They all laughed and called me crazy, saying, "You do it then!" So I did. The police were really nice too and just as much as I wanted their picture, they wanted mine as well, and we had a great time talking--sort of; you know, hand signals and random English words. They loved that I am and English teacher in Korea and had lots of questions to ask me. It was great fun. And when they left, I followed them down to the beach where I got a couple good shots of them and them of me. :) Living overseas certainly teaches you to live life to its fullest!

The police boat off shore; they had to take a long tail boat past the coral reef to reach out island.

Don't worry James. The fish don't bite. :)

Just a little snorkeling fun. We were being complete weirdos.

There was this stupid, stupid rooster in our camp site that thought it was a dog. Several times I saw him trying to nurse with the puppies (ouch!) and he would even sleep with the pups too (that's what he's doing here, underneath a hammock).

Another late night of drinking.

And you know me... Always an early riser. Actually, because there were no lights in our camp site and things got dark around 6:30 pm, we were all falling asleep at 8 or 9 at the latest, which meant I was waking up super early. (It didn't help that the rooster started crowing around 4 am either.) So, one morning I decided to leave my tent and sit out on the beach, listen to my iPod and catch the sunrise. I'm so glad I did. It was absolutely stunning.

The sunrise and moon over Koh Lao Lieng.

Fishermen leaving the villiage and heading out to pull in their first catch.

This is the money shot. Amazing huh?

On the morning of day three we would wake up to find ourselves in a massive storm, faced with insurmountable waves and a rather large channel to cross. Stay tuned for the adventure in my last Thailand blog post!