Wow, it's been awhile.  I apologize to all both of you that read this.  I have not really been in the best mental space to blog about my life.  Usually if I'm having a ton of fun, or if I'm fairly depressed, I find myself a lot less likely to sit down and share.  When I'm having fun, I don't want it to end, and usually just keep chasing it.  When I'm feeling down, I don't really think the world (save my close family and friends) really cares/needs to know about it. 
  I suppose it's been a pretty turbulent month, filled with it's ups and downs, but I'll shy away from the valleys here.  I fear Pavi and I may have had our last surf session/sessions of the year.  The typhoon season is coming to an end (I'm the the Filipinos are relieved) which means an end to the vast majority of our waves.  We had a morning session where sets were coming in well overhead.  Some how we made it out, but not for long.  We each had a massive bomb or two, but then the clean upset came through and knocked Pav and myself all the way down the beach to the Hyatt.  It was either time to get out, or decide to float to Shanghai.  By the time we'd walked up the beach, the waves had become too choppy for anybody to make it out, so we headed home. 
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  The other weekend, we had a decent little swell on Saturday into Sunday.  Pav and I surfed basically from noon till 6 with a 10 minute break.  The waves weren't incredible, but it was nice to be out there.   I had a few good rides and even snuck in a game of volleyball in between.  Afterwards we went out for Marita's birthday (this is the day after an all-nighter at Geckos and the norebang for Alex's b-day) to Geckos and another norebang.  It was actually ridiculously fun, and nice to have so many people together at the same time.  It was the kind of weekend that made me realize I could stay here another year if I had to, maybe just not at Wee English Zone.  So anyway, Sunday Pavi and I headed up to the beach to look for some surf, and there wasn't much.  We decided to suit up and give it a go nonetheless.  It ended up being a great decision.  We finally surfed the Hyatt cove on the little sandbar that formed outside and a little bit on the edge of the Hyatt cliff.  They were quick shoulder high waves, but the water was so clear it was incredible.  We could see schools of fish swimming under us and skipping across the water in front of us.  I dropped in on a nice little right and could see the sand being sucked into the wall of the wave.  Words can not describe how beautiful it was.  It was a nice warm and clear fall day, with OK waves in the area I'd wanted to surf since I arrived.  It was a really fitting end to the surf season, and one of those days when I'm back in the States that I'll never forget. 
   For Halloween I went to Geckos (4 times in 10 days?) to celebrate with the crew.  I dressed up as the legendary Ken Friesen.  Ken is a Mennonite 'kid' from the Canadian States of America.  Since we both buzz/shave our hair a lot of Koreans think we look the same.  Well, they think all white people look the same, but I guess it's a little more pronounced with Ken and myself.  I borrowed one of Ken's trademark shirts, wore my glass, and did my best not to smile in pictures, as the Kenny does not usually smile.  The costume worked well enough that I had a few double takes and a couple other foreigners thinking I was Kenny from a distance.  Lets hope I'm not that ugly, but you know...   Of course Halloween ended with another norebang session until 4:30am.  I have't norebanged that much my entire time in Jeju, but with El there to belt it out, it would have been tough to have a bad time.   Although I still miss last year's Halloween with Gog and the Mrs. 
  In other news, I had to say goodbye to my good friend Tanja, the dive master at Big Blue 33.  It'd been great getting to know her and dive with her, but like everybody else here, she had to leave some time.  I'm pretty sure our last dive together maybe have been my last dive on Jeju.  It was a nice one out at Seopsom with tons of lion fish and large schools. 
Well, that's about it for now.  Hopefully I'll have something good to write about again in a few days. 
Only 70 days until my last day of work here on Jeju!  Then I've got to get ready for the big surprise birthday party my friends are throwing me at home.  Right...
 
 
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Thanks Meg/Paul

I had a great 4 1/2 hour surf session with Pavi (Paul) today.  It was definitely a great relief, and surfing just seems to melt all my stress and worries away.  The waves were nothing incredible, about head-high, sectiony and breaking at different points.  It's still better than the average day in Folly.  I had a few good waves were I made connections to other waves inside, and ended up with good long rides.  During some of the close-out waves, I could still get a good drop-in, go around the whitewater and shoot straight up the wave, launching myself into the air.  It's not a very difficult exit, but it's fun everytime.  I'm like a little kid, with this big grin on my face when I see it coming.  It's just so nice to go out in the ocean with friends goof around, talk about anything, get a great workout and catch some decent waves.  I feel like my surfing is getting a little better.  I'm still not good, but I can tell big differences in the way I surf now as compared to last fall.  I have a little more confidence and am turning a little tighter.  It's great after all this time to finally be a 'competent' surfer.  Basically a surfer that doesn't wipeout everytime, but only every couple waves.  I'm still really nervous surfing over reef, in hollow conditions, but I guess that will come with time.  There's a guy here that's been surfing for over 20 years, and he just kills it in all the conditions, just like the South Africans, so it's good to pick up techniques and advice from them.   The reason I named this blog entry 'Surfing Purgatory' is because this place is just so 'in the middle'.  It's not great, it's not bad, but it is better than Folly.  Plus we're still in the 'rainy season' (I've used way too many quotes so far...) and it's jsut been gray every day.  The sun has peaked out once or twice in the past week, but it's just been cloudy with the occasional rain.  I think Rob jinxed us when he said that it had been an unsually mild rainy season and that it was ending soon.   Apparently it just keeps going.
  I still haven't made any decisions about my surf trip in January, but Indo is lookin bad.  Not because of the bombings, but because it's the rainiest month, and dirt roads don't handle rain too well.  Paul and I are still researching and looking into the Caroline Islands/Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and a couple other spots, but in the end it's going to come down to the airfare.  I was talking to one of the Southies, Grant, today about Indo and how I was nevervous going there, being a mediocre surfer and he made a good point that no matter where I go, if there are enough waves, I'll be able to find one that suits my ability.   Well, I'm pretty exhausted, so I might just watch some TV or read and pass out for the night.  Another crazy Saturday night, right?

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Thanks Meg/Paul!
 
Training Grounds 06/03/2009
 
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I got a little dawn patrol surf session this morning.  Woke up about 4:45 (insomnia pays off sometimes) and texted Paul till he woke up.  We hit the road shortly after 5:00 and were in the water around 5:30am.  We surfed near the point at Jungmun with 3 South Africans that are great surfers and pretty nice guys.  The break we were surfing was in about 3 feet of water over top of reef and lava rock.  It's a little sketchy surfing in shallow water, knowing that if you mess up, you could have a rough landing, but it was worth it.  99% of the waves coming in were lefts, and I'm not too confident going in that direction, so it was definitely a good chance for me to improve my abilities.  I only had a couple wipe-outs, that weren't too bad.  One wave, I got close to sneaking into a mini-barrel because I had a late take-off, but the lip just threw over me quickly, and I kept going outside.   I also had one of my best lefts ever.  It ran for about 75 meters, shoulder high, making a connection onto another wave that was curling around the point and the entire time I could see through the wave to the grey/white/black coral and stone beneath.  It was really gorgeous, and I feel so fortunate to be able to surf at such a beautiful spot with a good crowd.  I watched the sunrise over the architecturally-stunning convention center, saw the haze burn off of the neighboring cliffs and Oreums (mini-volcanoes that dot the island) and surfed in crystal blue water.   Does it get much better than that?
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Jungmun before sunrise
 
Surfing 03/22/2009
 

It's about time.  I waited forever to get my new beloved blue van.  Yes, I'm now a van guy.  I purchased a used Kia (it was either a Kia, Daewoo or Hyundai) van for about $1000US so that I could tour the island, and most importantly; haul my boards to the beach.  Paul and Stephen and I headed down to Jungmun Saturday, hoping for some swell based on the wind data, but we were sorely disappointed.  The day wasn't a total bust though, we ended up exploring a little more to the west and seeing stunning Sangbang-san with a possible break in front of it.  (Picture of Sangbang-san included on this page)  I even ventured down a random road (thanks Stephen) that was about 6 inches wider than my van.  Everytime I was thinking about attempting a turnaround in a driveway, I kept being urged on.  So I continued to drive, branches scraping the side of the van, tangerines within arms-reach.  We finally poked out onto a major road, much to my relief.  So after the adventure, we ended up at Gecko's for a burger and fries to make as feel a little better after being denied surf.
Today was a different story.  We decided to give it another shot and drive down to Jungmun around 11am and pray for surf.  Upon arriving, our hearts were collectively pounding.  We'd seen white-water in the harbor, so we knew that there should be some chop building at the beach.  Paul and Stephen jumped out of the van and sprinted to the overlook.  As I parked and got out of the car, I could see them hi-fiving and jumping up and down.  It could only mean one thing; it was time to surf.  They ran back up to the Beast, and we got the boards out, put the fins on, waxed up and climbed into the cold weather gear.  Paul is from Australia, and Stephen has been living in Hawai'i for the past 10 years, so they're both a little spoiled.  The water was a realtively nice 59-60 degrees.  I wore my fullsuit with no booties or gloves and was comfortable the whole time.  Paul definitely got a little chilly towards the end of the session and Stephen didn't stop complaining about it.  I have to give Paul props; it was probably the coldest water he's ever surfed in, and he was only wearing a spring suit.  Stephen on the otherhand is orginially from New York, so he should have known what was going to be coming. 
  Anyway, the surf was running about shoulder high with occasionally larger sets.  The winds were howling offshore, and even in our semi-protected cove, the spray coming off the lip could be blinding.  At Jungmun, the waves break in pretty deep water.  It's super clear here, and I definitely couldn't make out any semblance or resemblance of the bottom.  It was a ridiculously long paddle (Assateague like...) and I actually had to get out, and go closer to the rock point and use the rip to get me out to where I could paddle back into the bowl where the waves were actually hitting.  It was a pretty decent day, although I'm so far from paddle-shape it's embarassing.  We all looked a little rusty out there, but held our own.  The first time I stood up, was like my first time all over again.  I was nervous, I was over-thinking where I was planting my feet, which way I should go on the wave, if I was popping up to early or late, and if I was going to make it.  I made it, and road it for a little bit till it just died on me and I basically walked into the water off my board.  I only got about 5 waves all day because every time a huge set came in, it seemed to be forming further and further out.   It was also pretty draining to paddle for 20 minutes to get out there, and I had little energy to actually paddle for a wave. 
All-in-all it was a good day.  Today was actually the first time I've even touched water in the Pacific (even though this is the where the Yellow Sea and the East Sea meet, it's still part of the Pacific).  It felt so good to get in there, to stand up on a few waves, make a couple turns on the slow waves, and look at the beauty of the basalt cliffs we were facing.  It was probably the most gorgeous surf spot I've ever been in, especially when the little waterfall started flowing from near the Hyatt.  There's another smaller more secluded cove about 400m West of where we surf, but I don't think it breaks as well as our beach.  It is stunning though.  I sit here now, typing, and my heart is racing all over again thinking about surfing.  I know I'll be sore tomorrow, but right now, I'm just ecstatic. 

Today was finally another one of those days that make me so happy to be on Jeju, even though I'd like to have the GOG out here for the surf sessions. 

 
 
All photos taken by Muggs are not to be copied, borrowed, printed or stolen without his permission. Any text is not to be copied or repeated without permission.