So, because I’m crazy, I’ve taken on a new slew of projects. The first starts tomorrow with a shoot for Land of Gazillion Adoptees. (Check out their site http://landofgazillionadoptees.com/ ) 

These videos should be very special to work on! Shout out to Kevin for the chance to help out! 

Today I was lucky to be invited to a big family gathering and be a fly on the wall. It was such a nice thing and felt very much like home because of the big family atmosphere (Yes that was a shout out to all my cousins, you know who you are) Minsa’s uncle made me drink with him at 12:30pm, and then proceeded to pour soju into my beer… so that was fun… I don’t do well with day drinking. 

They had a fake birthday cake for me :) 

And just to get this out of the way, I’m 29… but apparently 30 in Korean birthdays… ugh

But I had so much seafood, I don’t know what went in my mouth. (TWSS??)

This—->

Became this —->

Now- to review the entirety of this trip, we examine the 8 days. 

Two non stop flights to and from Incheon and JFK

Four hotel rooms (3 different hotels, 1 repeat)

Two great crew members (Minsa, Katrina)

Too much Korean food (I hate root vegetables now)

One unforgettable moment (To come :)

And a lifetime full of laughs… For example, these pretty much sum up Minsa’s and my relationship…

If it were only that easy to sum up the trip.

This is the last travel blog post that I’ll make while in Korea ( I think, don’t hold me to that). 

It has been a remarkable trip and it was made even better with the help of Katrina, Minsa, and Minsa’s fantastic family members willing to help this city boy reconnect. Minsoo and Mr. Cho, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Minsoo even made it out with a friend, Liana, for a birthday drink! 

It’s time to come back, and time to heal. Figuring things out will not be easy, but I can say that I know I won’t be alone. 

So to leave you with one more hilarious story. I messed up slightly trying to figure out the train from Daegu to Seoul. Katrina and I made our way onto A train and I was so proud that I got us there on time and figured out the track and car to get on. Then, I realized our seats did not exist on this particular train car. I tried asking the train conductor and he let out a sympathetic “Ohhhh”… this can’t be good. I realized by that noise, that I had made a tiny mistake and we got on the train 5 minutes earlier than the one we were supposed to grab. No big deal, we just get off at the next station and get the train right behind this one. Easy enough!

So, the next train arrives, we get on. Only to find that there is NO WAY we can find our assigned seats because this train apparently has a movie playing and it’s pitch black inside the car (PS- WORST IDEA EVER, I hope Amtrak NEVER does this).

So, I have given up, Katrina is laughing at me, and what ensues are these wonderful photos of us standing/sitting in between cars for an hour and 10 minutes that remained on the ride to Seoul. 

Through all of that, we made it back to Seoul and will leave tomorrow evening back to JFK. A part of me will miss Korea, but I’m ready to be home, with my dog. That is home now, this place is just a nice country to visit that has some great friends living in the area. A place I’m not afraid to come back and experience whenever I feel like it. 

Well.. I was gonna do something really nice for the viewers and post some behind the scenes production shots… BUT my drive has decided that it’s had enough of this international current and is not powering up. I did manage to grab a few. 

Traveling through the terminal at Incheon

Baggage claim

Subway with Minsoo

Meeting the 2nd Abbot at Temple

Learning about the temple first hand from the Venerable Abbot. 

Now for some fun shots. 

Road to Buddha

Prawns for lunch

Meat for dinner

Cigarettes and urinals

Now it’s time to go all Shaolin monk! You be the judge of who did it the best. 

And last but not least, just a simple pose.

That’s it for now. I apologize to those who waited for a post the other day, but I had another set of drive issues that finally got resolved before this most recent one. 

We are headed to Daegu tomorrow for a family gathering that should be  a very interesting time with a real korean get together. 

I do have a special treat that will hopefully be available in an hour once it’s finished uploading :)

Today was bittersweet as we had to say goodbye to Minsoo and headed down to Gyeongju for the next adventure. 

His final task was getting us to Seoul Station for our train. 

Made it on the train and I got a chance to sit back and reflect on a some things that just happened while trying to imagine what was in store for me next. 

And to remember to have fun also.

We arrive among an impressive spread and met with Minsa’s family for some lunch before the Cherry Blossoms!

Then it was finally time to see what I had been waiting for since realizing I’d be in Korea for this seasons… 

Then we had some tea in Minsa’s uncle’s traditional home. It is quite impressive and something that I wish I could just simply sell all my possessions and move in to. 

Next we managed to watch the sunset go down behind the mountains and it’s something incredible to behold. Even though we were rushing to try and grab a timelapse of it, it was still stunning. 

I’m not sure what I’m doing here yet, I think I know, but not 100%. All I know is, I think I’m breathing better and quieter here. Calm and quiet in a place beyond the pines. 

Today was a sight seeing day before we travel southeast. It was misty all day, but managed to see a few things. Lots of pictures so bear with me. 

First up the most awesome DP ever, Minsa Cho and I on the train 

Then I had to take a photo op with these two…

Now for some real sites…

This is Cheonggyecheon. I think it’s fascinating that this was once just sewage and was transformed into this incredibly beautiful park and stream. I was here before, but it was awesome to visit again. 

Just me near the South Gate i think? 

The crew trying to stay dry!

Silver surfer??

Lunch time… some sort of Udon noodle with beef… i don’t remember the real name of it.. And below- proof yet again that i can use those heavy chopsticks!

Ok, so next was on to Insadong

Pretty cool shopping complex area with some interesting items. Didn’t buy anything though :( Nothing really caught my fancy

Maybe this… it’s apparently literally translated to Sh*t bread.. wonder why.. sigh

Before we left, I noticed everyone wrote on the walls in this place, so obviously I pulled out my sharpie that I carry on me and left my mark :)

I probably should have written Finding Seoul… ugh, why didn’t I think of that earlier! 

Finally, it was time for BASEBALL!!!!!!!!! sorry :)

After we left the game, I noticed this!

And I got this little souvenir for myself finally

The ‘D’ is for the Doosan Bears.. they won

And to close this post out, it occurred to me that looking around tonight and seeing everything around me that I actually stopped, stared at Katrina and Minsoo and said I realized that I actually missed this. I don’t know what that means, but I think there’s some peace to coming back that I’m finally experiencing. And if I had to fly 14 1/2 hours to get it, it was well worth it. 

Till tomorrow campers. As always, a gigantic thank you