Routine

Being a English Professor in South Korea has both it's perks and downsides. The main downside to me was the routine of a 9-5 job. Coming straight out of college to here means that I have never worked a real 9-5 job before. Oh sure, I was use to classes all morning then going to work for 6 or so hours but this is different. Getting use to waking up early (6:50) every morning and not coming home to relax until 5:30 has it's tolls. One of them was that, after a while, I didn't know what to do with myself. I have some friends here but as a rule of thumb the weekdays are usually not good for adventures. So most nights when I first got here were spent catching up on classical movies, reading and exploring my mind.

Like all other people who have fallen into this lifestyle you fall into a everyday routine. Somehow it just makes the days go by easier to do the same things every night. Consistency, as they call it. A month or so ago I got really sick of the same thing, different day. I wanted a change. I figured if I was going to fall into any routine it might as well be productive.

This was when I decided to aim for the one thing I have sought after for as long as I can remember. A body that is at one point immaculate. I say one point because I firmly believe life is nothing more than striving for little moments of perfection. I have tried to achieve this many times in the past but there was always some stone block in my head stopping me from fully committing. This time thought something was different. I didn't have to build it up in my head and prepare myself. Some switch just went off in my head that said, "You do this now." I found some programs online and started one of them.

The first program I did was "Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred" and I got some ok results.

The Before Pics

The After (30 days) Pictures

I still have some more things in store but if I am going to fall victim to a routine I am damn well going to make sure it's on my terms.

Last few days of Jeju

So the third day of Jeju island was spent doing "culture" stuff. We went to a few museums (Chocolate, Botanical Gardens to name a few) and went to one more nice beach. We also went back to the special spot that I mused on in the last blog. Finding out that our flight left the next day earlier than I had thought we went to bed early, woke up early and made our way home exhausted. Here are the pictures from the last few days of our little vacation together.

But before that there is one thing we didn't get to do before we left that I was really hoping for. Loveland. Here is a friend's blog which gives much better detail on this subject with NSFW photos of Loveland.

The Botanical Gardens of Jeju Island

Inside the gardens. They had 4 different tropical zones to explore

The middle of the gardens. You could go all the way up and view the surrounding area

The tropical area

Al trying to understand Engrish

In the middle of nowhere we found this museum 

All lies. I didn't like this place

I would love to live in it though

The lady who opened it collected weird figurines 

ahhhh now we are talking my language

Crystal clear water

Those are lava rocks

These guys were all over the island. They are grandfather statues who are said to protect the island from harm

Now they have been reduced to feeding me deliciousness 

And nothing says Jeju like rape flower

Now I can finally be done with the Jeju updates and post things way more fun to do than this.

My top 10 movies

I compiled a list of my top 10 movies originally to send to Alison. However, I decided to post them on here for the hell of it. Half of the reason of this decision is because while here I have a lot of alone free time when I am home during the week. I have been taking this time to educate myself by watching important classical movies, reading classical books that have stood the testament of time and learning some new things about myself. But I digress. Here is the list.


So here is my list of the top 10 movies I think every human being should watch before they die. These are the movies I can watch over and over again without growing tired of them or finding myself drifiting off halfway through them.

1. Citizen Kane

- Directed by, and Starring, Orson Welles. 

- This movie is considered the greatest movie of all time by most movie  critics and professors alike. 

        - One watch and you will see why. Not much more needs to be said as this movie is legendary. 

2. Mulholland Drive
- Directed by David Lynch
- I remember watching this when I was 18 and still fresh into my first year of college. Although it clocks in at 147 minutes it always seemed much longer to me.
- This movie is so hard to understand that there are clues to "figuring it out" on the inside cover of the DVD.
- However hard to understand, this movie is simply amazing. It dives into the human mind with such ease that you are never sure what is reality and what is actually happening.

3. THX 1138
- Directed by George Lucas
- This was his first feature film way before he made Star Wars. He made it while he was in college.
- This movies shows a future that is along the lines of 1984 and Brave New World.
- This movie, along with Muholland Drive, shows us what someone with a small budget, but great idea  and passion, can do.

4. The Godfather
- Enough Said

5. Birds
- Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
- Most people have heard of this movie but it is surprising how little people have seen of it.
- Truly one of the best suspence horror movies of it's time.
- Unlike unrealistic monster movies this one portrays a very realistic enemy in such a subtle manner that it only adds to the already endofyourseat atmosphere.

6. Anti-Christ
- Directed by Lars von Trier
- If you ever wanted something that was going to scare you and give you nightmares this is it.
- Not necessarly a typical "scarry" movie but so much more. It touches on a level of horror I have never seen before.

7. Lost in Translation
- Directed by Sofia Coppola
- To me this is the perfect love story. Some will disagree with me for the sheer fact that it does not end in the traditional "girl gets the guy happy"
           way.
- However, to me, this is more of a real life love story. This is the only movie that makes me all emotional every time I watch it.

8. Akira
- Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo
- Anime
- Truly shows us what a group of animators are capable of.
- The story still draws me in every time and the English dubbing is worth watching it in English.

9. Disney Films
- All of the original hand drawn princess ones.
- I still find myself singing some of the songs to myself.
         - I think these movies were a part of everyones youth and brings us all back to simpler times. Disney truly is the master at this ruse.

10. Waking Life
- Directed by Richard Linklater
- This movie has a simple these: Dreams
- All the movie is is nice music and one kid walking around talking to different people who are talking to him about different ideas about different things
- However, this movie is perfect for almost any mood. Background noise, falling asleep, thinking, etc.

Jeju Island Day 2

Day 2 of Jeju Island is the one I will remember for as long as I have left on this earth. After seeing some of the photos and video I think you will understand why this is so.

The day started with Alison and I getting up relatively late and still sore from yesterday. We decided a day on the beach would fix this problem and wake our bodies up. Armed with nothing more than a towel and sunscreen we caught a taxi and headed to the nearest beach. Prior to this I had never swam in the Pacific before so I knew not what to expect of the water and sand.

The first sight of the Pacific. It's going to be a good day 

I was kicking myself that I didn't book a room at that hotel

Where we walked down

The water was slightly cold but crystal, and I mean crystal, clear

Me for most of the day

So we stayed at this paradise until we could not stand the heat anymore. I had done a little research prior to going to this island and though digging deep, asking some of the locals and pure hunting I had heard of a little spot off the beaten path. We took our top secret directions and finally found the place.

Words can not describe this place. Ice cold blue water, three waterfalls and very few people there. This is the place that wombs legends. I have no more words to describe this place or the feeling it gave me. 

We bathed under those waterfalls

Perfect

Alison

Me

Breathtaking

We stayed there for god knows how long. Time seemed to have no meaning at this place. When there was not a single ray of sun left in the sky we decided it was time to go. Even writing this brings back a ghost of the memory gained by this place and leaves me.....speechless. We went back to our hostel and slept well that night knowing but not fully understanding what we had experienced this day. 

Jejudo Island (Jeju Island) Day 1

I was unsure about how to write these entries for the past two weeks due to the sheer amount of material involved. I have finally decided that some things are better not put into words and better left to the imagination of the person reading this. I will, however, give some basic information about this marvelous trip to one of the more beautiful tropical paradises I have been to in my life, 

To start off Jeju Island is a small island off of the southern coast of South Korea. The Koreans call it the "Hawaii of Korea" but even after a breathtaking time I am not sure if I would go as far as to call it that. I would go as far as to call it the "Honeymooners Island" as it is also referred to by the Koreans. On this island one can find breathtaking beaches, mountains, museums and plenty of unique food. In the middle of the island itself there is a large mountain which is actually a crater as the mountain is an inactive volcano. It exploded a while ago so much of the island's topography is uniquely filled with bedrock left over from the eruption. 

Alsion and I bought our plane tickets through KoreanAir, during peak season, for 315,000 Won for a round trip for both of us. Most of the hotels are pretty pricey ( the average price I found was 300,000 Won for 3 nights) but there are plenty of hostels if you know how to look. I finally found one for 30,000 Won a night (Hiking Inn) with our own room and restroom. We arrived at the airport and were greeted promptly by a wave of humidity unknown to me even coming to Korea from Florida. The airport is in the top Northern part of the Island so we caught a airport limosine (5,000 Won per person) and went on the hour trip to the Southern most city where our hotel lied.

After grabbing a bite to eat and taking a small nap around 2:00PM (as we had been going since 8:00AM) we went to a waterfall that was in walking distance from our hostel. I heard Jeju is famous for it's waterfalls, as they have plenty of myths surrounding the island, but didn't know what I was getting myself into. After seeing one we took a taxi and saw a few more that were in our area. 

Right next to our hostel.

The walk to the first waterfall. Notice how blue the water is.

These steps were frightening to walk on.

Just a nice shot.

The first waterfall. Cheonjiyeon Falls. 

Me

Alison

The second waterfall. I forget the name for the rest of the waterfalls we saw that day. 

The third waterfall. 

Lastly the fourth waterfall we saw that day.

No one was at the third waterfall. Made for a nice shot. 

When we were done climbing to all the waterfall you can see how miserably we needed showers. (or at least I did.)

The view from this huge stone bridge. 

Our hotel room. I didn't want to move when we got back there.

We still have three more days to go over. I will finish this up in the next few days when I don't need sleep so badly.