Yeah…I have nocturnal epilepsy. If you’ve been following long enough, you know that. Grand mal seizures, the big ones with the convulsing, foaming and bleeding at the mount, all the good stuff, well it would only happens when I’m asleep. Besides a feeling of deja vu, excessive tiredness with a fuzzy mind and possibly a hit of a feeling between euphoria and doom, there isn’t any signs. Besides the Déjà vu, none of those are enough to alert me that something may be coming. There would have to be a hint that it happened the next day. That time was my pillow being bloody and a bit upside of my tongue. Besides spooking me a bit, there wasn’t too much aftermath.
I loved my new house so much. A whole room to turn into the doggie den, a kitchen where I could keep the kitten separated and my own bedroom to retreat to so I could actually get some sleep. It was the best feeling having a place so my own that I could decorate it enough to feel like it reflected me. It had been hell cleaning it, especially in the head of August, but I had moved onto repurposing old shit furniture that had been left and buying enough stuff at Daiso for decorating that some restocking was needed.
Henyo were outside my window to one side, a gorgeous river bridge on the other and I could hear monks chanting a block away. I loved that old tourist neighborhood that had Yongduam (dragon head rock) as its main tourist attraction. Being told that it was the oldest hood in Jeju made it even more enchanting.
Moving into an old house didn’t come without plenty of battles. Black mold, dead cockroaches everywhere and no insulation being among them. My woman in her 80s landlord/owner was a nonstop talking (even though I couldn’t understand) woman from Busan who refused to do anything about any of it. There were kindnesses from others, though. One being that EunSook bought me a new fridge.
Then there was the rescues. The pups were there for me. They were always there. Maybe not the same ones at all times but I always had the sweetest cutest little fosters to keep me busy, bruised and on my toes. Even if that meant stubbing the fuck out of them while banging into corners in order to not step on the ones under my feet. That month was the first time I also had a little kitten. Poor thing was scared shitless and left me the marks to prove it. Slowly we worked on it, though, and it was the best when things started inching toward progress. It meant even more to see the little cutie doing better since it was apparently friendly when taken off the street.
I had three pups at the same time. Soju the Jindo came later in the month and would end up being a favorite among the crowd. The other two, Artemis & Xena, came with worms, but most of them needed help getting healthy off the street, so it was to be expected.
pups had worms.
I may have been busy all day long given most adopters being in the US and the countless local volunteers and others in rescue to partner with but it gave me such a sense of happiness, I barely noticed the exhaustion. Watching my friend Gaelan’s pup, the first dog I ever watched on the island and where I got started in rescue, gave me a sense of nostalgia. And then there was the new experiences. I set up a community dog camping event by the big dog park where the couple was looking to help animals in need. I also finally made it to Eun sooks’s for the first time (at the end of the month?).
Besides being in love with rescue and JARC, I also continue to be in love with teaching I adored my students and they adored me. Little things happened that were so special that they made me tear up on a normal basis. My boss was a sweet man from Scotland and his wife an “older woman” than him who was a native S Korean. Thet had been looking for someone like me and supported the way I taught through creative projects. We had great laughs, like how technology was my arch-nemesis in that it randomly went haywire around me. My Mom even sent me a laptop I bought from the US since the used one I bought on the island died after a couple days. I usually liked my colleagues a lot but the weird western colleague whose girlfriend I had seen complain of being a deadbeat online was a little hard to take. Luckily he only worked part time and I was too happy over all for him to get under my skin.
Continuing on with my love of hiking, I accidentally participated in some dark tourism by visiting the Jeju 4 · 3 Peace Park. Fuck was that emotional. The horrible history of what had happened to the people of that island continued to make a certain impact on me given how peaceful, beautiful and full of lovely folklore it had. That particular memorial shared things such as how 30% of the men on the island had been massacred once when trying to stand up for their rights, they were forced to be suicide soldiers when fighting in waterfront caves as helicopters came in to attack and more and more and more. Going into those caves, I swore they were haunted. And I was haunted just being there.
There was great things that came along, too. I was still excited every time I went on a Hash regardless of being left in charge of kids on the trail too often. Another time, after running into woman who started Jeju Olle trail loop at a wine bar, I would end up hiking with ex-journalist Suh Myung-suk and her famous director husband.
Korea BBQ being my constant fave, it was still fun being a foodie with the other options provided. One of the exciting moments being when a taco shop opened on the island. Expensive as opposed to cheap back home in San Diego, they weren’t the best but were quite a treat there.
As life always provides the downs with the ups, there were a couple hard moments. One when getting pictures of my niece Sienna back home. It was a reminder that I was missing thse stage of life my nieces were in. One of the great sufferings of being an expat or traveler. Then there was the uncomfortable light fear of getting bruising from my autoimmune disorder later in the month.
Soon enough it was time for Chuseok and back to Busan I went.
“Chuseok, also known as Hangawi, is a major mid-autumn harvest festival and a three-day holiday in South Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar on the full moon.”
Living on a beautiful vacation island didn’t mean that it couldn’t get stale being in the same place doing the same things. It was fun to get to what I considered the San Diego of S Korea. Faster-paced and more Westernized, I found myself at the kind of tap house familiar to what was back home. Almost going on a date, a crazy Egyptian expat dude who stood me up and then wouldn’t leave me alone, was an interesting occurrence. Luckily he finally took off after I eventually told to stop harassing me.
Little things always made a fun difference. Buying soju earrings, they were to become a fan favorite getting laughs out of reserved locals for the rest of the time I was on the island. Also getting a large ajumma visor as a joke, I’d find it to be pretty useful in blocking the sun enough to not have to wear sunglasses. Giving me a constant smirk and allowing me to be able to check out the beautiful colors of my surroundings back on the island, It was another great buy that was to be used a lot. The great grand finale was seeing mfirst drone show in and what was to become the best for a long time to come.
As they say, all good things must come to an end, and getting home to instantly having to deal with drama about my teaching visa at a government building. But it didn’t phase me. I was more foundationally at peace and just plain happy than I had ever been in my life. I had never been so aware about how much one decision could change everything. And lord was I happy I hadn’t ever let anyone talk me out of it.
