celebrating mud

this weekend was a celebration. a celebration of mud. in the dirtiest way possible. there was mud fondue. streams of mud. slides of mud. mud wrestling. mud dancing. mud prisons. mud. and all the human beings that showed up. turned into swamp monsters. 

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viv and i got on a bus and headed down to boryeong and daecheon beach on the west coast of korea for one of the messiest days of our summer. it was foggy. it was a tad chilly. but we were ready to get muddy.

to the left is the stage and to the right is the yellow sea  

foggy yellow sea, vampire still hiding from the sun 

 looking south

little darlings  

apparently this man is a legend and his name is kim chung hoon . he sings

 foggy fireworks

painted the whole night sky 

the next morning, freedom formation 

 they were pretty darn cool 

sunning the next day 

while vampire lifeguards were covered head to toe 

muddy jackie and muddy viv 

my mudding pals, viv and jodi, now clean

the weekend was fantastic. full of muddy people. people you couldn't recognize. people who were just people because you couldn't tell if they were male, female, asian, or foreign. people covered in mud. people playing. people dancing. people having fun. people being people. 

i always do love being a swamp monster

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effort and priorities

i think i've learned a bit about effort and priorities and how priorities can take a lot of effort. especially here. i've realized that beds are really comfortable and it's easy to get lost in them with your cat. sometimes for entire days. i've experienced how much effort it takes to get places on trains and buses and other forms of public transportation and how much time is involved sitting on those trains and buses and other forms of public transportation and how much easier it would be to ignore them. but then i recognize my priorities and what i value. putting in effort gives something value. because i put in time and effort into meeting with friends, it means i value these people, and they're higher on my priority list. because making the effort is worth it, for me. taking the time to invest in these people and to show up for these people is worth it. it's worth the walking, the sitting, the catching, the riding, the walking some more. it's worth missed connections and delayed trains. and while i definitely may grumble and groan. and while i definitely may think about getting back in bed. it's also worth it to take a step back and realize it. is. worth. it. and while i grumble frequently, i realize its worth just as frequently. i realize it lighting sparklers downtown, i realize it eating subway sandwiches, i realize it eating mexican in itaewon, i realize it sitting at the baseball game in jamsil and cheering for both teams, and i realize it when people do the exact same thing for me.

when it rains

apparently, when it rains here (and it will a lot in the coming months because of both the monsoon season and the typhoon season)(and i'm fairly excited to experience both, but i might not be saying that after these coming months). anyways, apparently when it rains here, the dragonflies come out. does this happen in america and i've just never noticed? it rained hard yesterday and last night, into this morning. and today during a break between classes, i looked into the school courtyard and it was filled with dragonflies. flying around, doing their thing, saying hi to one another. in the midst of shrieking children. the air was full of them !

have i told you how much i enjoy dragonflies? and rain? and now, about how much more i enjoy the two of them together? i love that they're connected and that one causes the other to appear. those dragonflies just made my whole morning exceptional.