visitors, cleansing, mud

The past two months I've been bless with visitors from home, who are so dear to me. First Vijay came in the middle of May. It was a relieved shock to see him again, with his smiling face and cool demeanor. Immediately I felt his presence and embraced him. The reunion was emotional for me, since it meant a lot to me that he came. We unpakced and set up the room in a confortable way. During the week we hung out in my city, and spent each day introducing my friends and showing him all the fun things to do. He came at exactly the right time in my trip and in my life because I needed to have that deep connection with someone who knew me. We spent the first weekend in Seoul and partied all night in Hongdae (the cool university area). There was a band in the park with awesome break dancers, so we watched the performance for a while. Then we went to a bar with my korean friend, B.A., who is a night owl. We ended up going to sleep at 10am at a jimjilbang (a public bathhouse). In the early afternoon we awoke and went to another round of Osho Aum meditation (which I explain on my blog dmoglen.blogspot.com). I was able to achieve a lot of personal insight during those 3 hours...
Another weekend we went to Chuncheon for the international Mime Festival. We met this really thought provoking older guy from South Africa who invited us to stay the night at his house. The next morning we saw the opening parade with clowns, mimes, and performance. One that struck me was this couple who tied a bungee cord to the top of a building and danced on the side of the building, like they where defying gravity. There were water fights and tug of war with hundreds of people (our side won).
Vijay was supposed to leave soon so we had a going away dinner with me, Vijay, and 6 of my korean friends who had met Vijay. The next day he was running late, and missed the last bus to the airport. I rushed downtown and a coworker helped him get a cab. Two hours later he still missed his flight but it all turned out okay. He actually left clothes in my room so I was able to return them, and he was able to change his flight with no extra charge. Plus he was able to see my next guest, who was arriving the following day.
Clarissa showed up, anxious and a little scared. I stood at the gate exit for hours in a busy crowd scanning everyone who exited. Finally she beelined in the opposite direction and I ran over to greet her. She melted in my arms, and I felt her shaking. We held each other and eventually found enough composure to achieve our next task, to get back to Cheonan. I was so happy to see her, and knew that we would have a wonderful trip together.
We went to Seoul to meet up with Vijay who was staying with a friend. We saw my friend's art exhibit (he had made a 7' buddhasaurus), and went to a baseball game.
Vijay left. Clair and I had a wonderful time together, traveling experiencing the life and culture here, relaxing.
After all my guests left I had the room all to myself, and I decide to focus on me. I cleansed for 4 days, drinking only a concoction of cayenne, maple syrup, and lemon water. The main highlights of it was that I slept for 12-13 hours each night and had wonderfully vivid dreams, I maintained a cleanse journal, I meditated day and night, and I painted like crazy. The downside was that I was constantly fatigued, and when teaching kids who can and do run circles around you, I felt like I needed my energy. But it was a good cleanse overall.
Since the cleanse I've been back to busy as a bee. I partook in the annual mudfest in Daechon beach, which is unlike any festival I've ever been to. Leave the valuables (everything) in the room because nothing's coming out clean. With mud painting, wrestling, obstacle courses, slides, I was covered, dripping head to toe.
And now, as I count down the working days remain at 9. And counting. See you soon California...