Some highlights were that David slept in a random tent that he found on Jeju Island because it got cold sleeping in the open outside. Luckily no one was around. And there were some pretty gruesome tales of a tent pisser at the music festival Ryan and Shannon had just come home from, but I've got to leave it at that for diplomacy's sake.
Saturday morning Brian and I headed up the ole mountain again, this time to find Seokbulsa (temple). We'd read about it a long time ago, but never successfully found it. Until Saturday. It was a small temple, but it had amazing details. Here's a picture in one of the temple halls.
The temple was nestled into the jutting rocks on a ridge near the South Gate of Geumjeongsan. It was a short hike, but it was down off one ridge into a valley and straight back up another. Well worth it though.
Saturday Shannon also found out that her closest sibling, her older sister, got engaged! So once again the crowd was together again and Will came too. It was Will's birthday and Shannon's good news day, so we went to lock and lorr bal to cereblate. And of course, there was the obligatory arcade trip. It's hard to believe it was our (2nd to) last time together. We'll do it all again Thursday for Ryan's birthday (he'll turn 30 while we're in China), but after that we may never all be in the same country again. After our big trip Shannon and Ryan will go to Australia and Canada respectively and won't be back in Korea (they've signed on for another year, Ryan's actually taking over at Brian's school) until after David, Duck, Brian, and I all leave for good. Brian and I will still get to see plenty of everyone, but it's the end for the 6 chingus.
Sunday we kind of realized all that must be done before leaving for Beijing and Mongolia, so this week has been busy. Only 3 more days of camp before the adventures begin again. Not that life in Korea isn't adventure in it's own right. Yesterday Brian and I went to the dentist for our yearly checkup and cleaning, thinking that we'd do it while we had great insurance and dental care is cheap in Korea. We looked up the words for checkup and cleaning and that seemed to ring some bells so we sat nervously waiting in what looked like the reception area of a swanky spa. I was worried I'd get knocked out before I could get my point across and wake up with a fresh set of veneers slapped on my teeth. Brian was worried we'd get slapped with some enormous bill for we didn't know what. Luckily those specific fears were unfounded. When the receptionists sat us down it was in an area with small partitions between the dentist chairs so that I could see Brian's feet and hear him clearly but I couldn't see what was going on with his face. No one cleaned us up, no hygienists materialized, but soon the doctor came along.
The poor dentist was baffled. "What's the problem?" he asks. Well, nothing necessarily. He was with Brian first and I could hear all. Brian says something to the effect of check me for cavities and clean my teeth please and seconds later I hear the dentist say he has no cavities. Brian asks how much for cleaning, doctor says maybe 10,000 Won (8 bucks) and Brian again mentions cavities. Now the doctor is plaintive, "No! No cavities!" (you should read this with the very Korean sort of whining trail off). "I will scaling to remove your calculus". Oh, perhaps this is cleaning? We though scaling was Konglish until we talked to Mom and Frank that night who mentioned that scaling is a real English word. So maybe calculus is the right word in that situation too, but I doubt it and also hope not because it's funnier that way. So again about 1 minute goes by and all of a sudden Brian's finished. Next it's my turn and the same thing happens. No tapping on the teeth or scraping while checking for cavities (though he did use a mirror, no gloves though), the scaling was most ungentle and it was a toe-curling minute that he spent scraping my gums to bloody pulps only on my lower front teeth, leaving the rest alone. Then he told me "Now you have no cavities AND no calculus". That's great, I never liked calculus. And nobody likes cavities. The whole thing set us each back 4,500 Won, or around 3.50 USD. Not as thorough, but much much cheaper than US dental care. It seems that the only preventative medicine we practice in the US is for something that would make us uglier if we weren't to do so. Korean dentistry seems to have much more to do with whether or not there's a problem in your mouth than keeping your smile nice. The lady at the counter who checked us in had a dead tooth in her mouth. Unsightly, but maybe not medically a problem to leave that sucker in there?
I told some Korean teachers at my school about the escapades today and they asked how many times Americans go to the dentist a year. I told them once and asked about Koreans. Both women are in their 50s and neither had ever been to a dentist. That explains the dentist's confusion.
This will probably be the last post until early September so the blog will be dormant a while. Check back then for all the sights and sounds of Beijing and Mongolia!
