jill and i chill with some monks

this weekend my friend jill pateman (who i've known since high school) and i headed to a place called 'gyeong-ju' for a peaceful temple stay. little did we know, we'd be forced to wake up at 4 am to chant and sit still then walk in countless circles in the freezing cold, all in the name of meditation... but it was an 'enlightening' time in the words of jill. before even getting to the temple (which required a half-hour walk from the bus stop) jill insisted on brushing her teeth by the side of the road. i gave into peer pressure and brushed mine as well. so we arrived minty-fresh at the temple, and revelled in the natural beauty of the place for.... hours... until finally supper rolled around. all of the meals were the same, but thankfully, they were also delicious. steamed rice, various kinds of fresh kimchi, tofu and soy/mushroom soup. the monks insist on doing every quietly... and quickly. meals are wolfed down and conversation, 'opsoyo' (absent). after dinner we learned some martial-arts moves (which i sucked at), did some fancy yoga tricks, then settled down on warm korean floors to sleep at 10 pm. the next day consisted of a trip to visit various temples, as well as the ONLY underwater tomb in the entire world (king mumu's)... below you'll see women burning incense by the japan sea, where the king is buried. you'll also see an adorable little boy who was trying to skip rocks. all in all, jill and i decided that, while we admire the monks for their discipline, we ourselves could not be monks. even in spite of the cool balloon pants that they get to wear (i'm wearing some below). so we headed on home to our cushy apartments, to get some much needed munchies and rest.