happiness

It took me a moment after I woke up to remember that there was a guest under my roof. Even though I was lying on a tightly strung cot in the front room of our house, inches from the Christmas tree, I still didn't recall the matter right away. When I did, oh boy, I couldn't get up and get ready fast enough. I sprang up, put on the clothes I'd set out earlier, threw my pillow aside, rolled up my sleeping bag, folded up the cot...and then wandered into the kitchen and just sort of milled around, waiting for Allison to awake. I wanted to be ready to make her whatever she wanted the moment she asked for it. I pride myself on being a good host, y'know. Honest, that's all it was. Yep. Allison obviously prides herself on being a good guest, because she didn't keep me waiting long. She came into the kitchen, fully dressed, refreshed and looking like a million bucks. (How do girls DO that???) After I'd run through the menu, she requested toasted bagels with cream cheese and strawberry jam. So I whipped us up a batch. I'd never tried strawberry jam and cream cheese on a bagel simultaneously. Wow, that was a learning experience. It was far from unpleasant—I found the combination intriguing, in fact—but nonetheless indescribably weird. Normally I'm all for maximizing one's pleasure. Cream cheese stands well enough on its own, and so does strawberry jam. It seems only natural to mix the two in order to make a bagel taste twice as good. But it had never occurred to me that way before. It almost seemed like a little too much of a good thing, like strapping a shotgun onto an M-16, or getting a complimentary swimsuit model with every Lamborghini you buy. It's almost too much. Seems as though you would want to focus on one or the other. I never thought jam and cream cheese would mix so harmoniously. We tarried only long enough to pack a picnic lunch (Allison helped me make some PBJs) and pack up the car before we headed off into the bright, cool morning for Joshua Tree National Park. What is Joshua Tree National Park, you ask? This: Beautiful, ain't it? All the more beautiful in the cool of desert winter. It's just as beautiful in triple-digit heat, but not as fun to go see, if you know what I mean. So, after an hour and a half's drive through the scenic Mojave Desert, past Lucerne Valley, Yucca Valley, and into Joshua Tree (almost to 29 Palms), we entered the park. Allison stumped up for the $15 entrance fee, bless her heart. We spent a delightful morning just touring the place. Under the slantwise glow of the winter sun, in the near-chill of the Southern California winter air, it was a sublime sight. We drove to Keys Vista and took a good look out over the Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Mount San Jacinto, and the Salton Sea. 'Fraid I don't have any images of that epic vista to share with you, though. Allison got better photos than I did. Her Kodak is actually set up to take panoramic pictures, which came out wickedly, awesomely, monstrously cool and downright breathtaking. (Besides, if I put a picture of the view up here on Blogger, you wouldn't have to go and see actually visit the park and see it for yourselves, now would you?) Then we began a slow dogleg back through the park to find somewhere to have lunch. We passed by Saddle Rock... ...and the Hall of Horrors, which was so distinctly named that I couldn't resist having a look-see. The look-see inevitably turned into a look-climb. I'm particularly glad Allison took that last photograph. I look just like Indiana Jones, don't I? I strained my left gluteus maximus rather badly climbing down, but apart from that, there were no mishaps. We elected to stop by the Jumbo Rocks for lunch on our way out of the park. Both of us noticed that our time together was rapidly developing a theme: "big." On the way home from Vegas, we'd stopped by Whiskey Pete's Resort & Casino in Primm, Nevada. The only eatery that had been open was the Mega Café. Now we would be eating at the Jumbo Rocks. Two big things in as many days. So we both agreed to try and keep the big theme going if we had a chance. We found a nice spot amid the rocks, out of the wind, and relatively free of dive-bombing crows, and ate our sandwiches, talking of this and that. Things couldn't have been going better, in my opinion. The weather was beautiful, I hadn't committed any massive mistakes (navigation-related or otherwise), and I had a lovely woman and an old friend sitting next to me, in the midst of one of the most gorgeous bits of Mother Earth to be found. Life was pure-D wonderful. And so we finished lunch, got back inside Roger, and headed out. Oh yes, Roger! How could I forget? Allison helped me name my Jeep. Now, normally I don't name cars. Most guys don't. Statistically speaking, women are more likely to name cars than men. Just another notch in my metrosexual belt, I guess. I don't mind. My '96 Ford Taurus was named "Chester" and I never saw any reason to change that. Now that I had acquired a '95 Jeep Cherokee, my naming skills had vanished in a puff of exhaust. Not that I was consciously trying to name the Jeep, mind you. But whenever the idea of naming it popped into my head, my subconscious couldn't help but start simmering away, mulling over possible monikers. I was stuck in that respect. All of the names that had popped into my head were nouns. Moreover, they were the names of other SUVs, already taken: Ranger, Rover, Explorer, and so on. That simply wouldn't do. So, imagine my surprise when, lo and behold, Allison turns to me moments after we pull onto the I-15 going away from Las Vegas and says: "So, have you thought up a name for your car yet?" I allowed I hadn't. She said, "That's okay. Leave it to me. I'm pretty good at naming things." She wasn't kidding, either. Her previous car was named "Sophie." So, as we pulled away from the Jumbo Rocks that bright fall morning in Joshua Tree, and the Jeep was grumbling and growling up a hill, it seemed as though a word of encouragement was in order. But I couldn't just say, "Come on, Jeep!" I needed a name. So I turned to Allison and said, "Any luck coming up with a name for this thing?" "Oh yeah!" she cried, remembering. "Hmmm..." She thought for just a second or two. "Roger," she pronounced. I liked it. Never met a Roger I hadn't liked. "Jolly Roger" was the collective name bloodthirsty pirates once bestowed on their sinister black flags. "Gold Roger" was the name of an infamous buccaneer in my favorite Japanese comic book, One Piece. "Roger" is the name of Pongo's owner in Disney's 101 Dalmatians. I also mistakenly believed that Roger was the first name (?) of John C. Frémont, the famed U.S. explorer and politician. Circumstances seemed to favor that name. So I said heck yes, and the rest came easily. "Come on, Roger!" I encouraged. Roger grumbled and growled a little more, then hoisted us to the top of the hill. Christen accomplished. We drove down, down, down, and came out through the northeast park exit, in 29 Palms. We drove back through Joshua Tree on the CA-62, got back on the 247 and headed home. The original plan had been to go out on the town with the family that night. But Allison and I were both so tired from getting up early and driving all day that we just decided to stay in. Once again, Alli proved what a good guest and honorable friend she was. She offered to cook dinner, and suggested I invite some of my friends over for her to meet. So I called up John and Chris. Mom and Dad excused themselves for the evening, heading down to Las Brisas (a groovy Mexican restaurant on the outskirts of town). Harlan, Chris, John, Alli and I had a pretty darn good dinner party. Alli made enchilasagna, enchiladas made lasagna-style (without rolling the tortillas). It was A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. With a capital "A" and "G." And a capital "B," "S," "O," "L"...well, you get the picture. Man, Alli's a good cook. The enchilasagna was a layer cake of flour tortillas, ground beef, onions, four different kinds of cheese, and both green AND red sauce. It was so delicious that it disappeared. Between the five of us, we killed it. Couldn't resist. Everybody had thirds. We were hooked on the stuff. There followed about an hour's worth of some of the raunchiest conversation I have ever been involved in, courtesy of John and Chris. Both of 'em are dirty-minded enough on their own, but when they get together, oh mother do they get blue. They'd have made Tiger Woods's porn star mistress blush, I reckon. (Even so, not even the two of them together could equal Wade, the head teacher at my bartender's school in Riverside...funny how we always start out talking about alcoholic beverages and wind up talking about perverted homosexual practices.) Alli was a champ. Despite being a good Lutheran girl from straight-laced North Dakota, she never once got offended. On the contrary, she was laughing and giggling and giving it back. I was impressed. Not that I expected any less of her, but damn, that girl just keeps impressing me right and left. She sure is something. Finally the party broke up. John and Chris went home, I cleaned up the kitchen, and then Harlan and Alli and I had a few rousing games of Bananagrams. For those unlucky people in the audience who don't know what this game is, boy have you been missing out. Imagine a crossword puzzle without the board. You get a bunch of lettered tiles, like you would in Scrabble, only you have to race to put together words with them (without having any left over) before your opponents do. You have a big pile in the middle and as soon as you get finished making all of your words, you yell "PEEL" and everybody has to take another tile and then keep making words. It's a challenge, but a zealously fun challenge for would-be wordsmiths like yours truly. We played for a good long while, and then went to bed: Alli in her room and I on my cot. My head whirred with what I'd seen and done that day. And I knew it was just going to get better. For tomorrow, we would brave smog and crowds and highways and danger in our determined quest for... ...UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD! Stay tuned.

Gyeongju: inhumation and indulgence

Now that I've waited so long to tell you about the rest of Gyeongju that I actually went ahead and told you about something else unrelated to it (Jirisan), I'll finally finish. What follows is the account of my final hours in Gyeongju on the morning of May 4, 2009.

I woke up not in the least bewildered by the previous night's circumstances (it was only one beer, for Pete's sake). After some deliberation, I decided not to re-up for a fourth night and promptly checked out, hefting my heavy bag down to the main road to decide what to do next. It was here that I encountered my only real delay in regards to navigation. The dang tourist map was all out of proportion. Instead of being sensibly printed to scale, it was one of those nasty cartoonish affairs with sights and landmarks and activities all blown up and expanded, so they look closer together than they really are. The upshot of this irksome tendency is that blockheaded tourists like myself attempt a leisurely stroll to the nearest attraction, only to discover it's much farther away than anticipated.

That's what happened to me when I set out to find Bunhwangsa (according to Wikipedia, that means "Fragrant Emperor Temple"), in which is housed a pagoda built by Queen Seondeok to commemorate a dead husband. Evidently she thought he smelled good.

This pagoda...
...used to be nine layers tall, in fact, but due to weathering and wars and whatnot it's been reduced to a humble three. Nonetheless its architecture is unique. There are no fewer than two stone guardians carved at each entrance, and the whole design of the thing, though based on Chinese Tang Dynasty models, is Korean at heart.

But that's neither here nor there. First I had to find the damn thing.

My map said it was pretty much straight across from the National Museum. I strode out, bold as brass, and before I knew it I was out in the middle of nowhere, nearing the sticks. I couldn't detect the slightest trace of a temple anywhere, sweet-smelling or otherwise. Hot, sweaty and irked, I directed my steps eastward, and once I finally neared the National Museum I set my portmanteau down in the shade of a tree, plonked myself down on it, hauled out my map, and reconsulted it. Newly discovering that my destination was, in fact, a twenty-minute walk down a tree-lined road from the museum, I hailed a cab in disgust and peacefully handed over the several thousand won, just for the sake of getting there faster. It was a lovely sight, if not a very lengthy one. There were one or two buildings, a well, some lanterns strung up, the obligatory gift shop, a few trees and that was about it.

Having spent less time in viewing this sacred artifact of a bygone time than I'd planned on, I vacillated. Head back to Gohyeon now, and spend the rest of the day vegetating? Or stick it out? Maximize my time in Gyeongju, the historical nexus of the Gyeongsang Provinces? Naturally I opted for the latter. I caught a cab back to the bus station (quite a distance, I was irritably gratified to learn) and then hopped on the next bus for Bomunho.

What's Bomunho, you ask?

Well, I'll tell you. It's a lake. Some kilometers east of Gyeongju proper, not quite as far as Bulguksa or Seokguram Grotto but a decent distance nonetheless, is a large, man-made lake set in between some scenic little hills. This area is the more hoidy-toidy, idealized version of grubby, short-stack downtown Gyeongju. (Seriously, the tumuli are the tallest buildings in that town.) That is to say, this is where the rich people go. The whole place is pretty much a resort. There are fancy hotels all along the lakefront (Hyundai, Lotte, even the Gyeongju Hilton). A fountain in the middle of the lake is nice and pretty and pointless. Shops and paved paths dot the shore. Paddleboats scud slowly across the water. Korean teens blow all their savings on rides and cotton candy at Gyeongju World, the theme park replete with Ferris wheels and roller coasters.

And...there was this place.
This is Gyeongju Expo Park, which I happened upon during the Millennium Car Show. After a little deliberation and some tantalizing glimpses...

I caved and forked over nine thousand to get in. I wouldn't soon have cause to regret it. In addition to some of the killer cars they were showcasing...

...not to mention a few gorgeous Korean supermodels who were softening up the hard edges of the vehicles a bit...

...there was Gyeongju Tower!

The sight of it alone titillated me into entering the park. It sat like a vast, jagged tooth, rising out of the ground as though newly upthrust from the craggy jaws of a dragon, looming over Bomunho Lake like a sentinel. I knew the view from up there was bound to be dynamite, so I hopped the elevator and went up.
As if the view from the top of Gyeongju Tower wasn't good enough, the view of the top of Gyeongju Tower wasn't all that bad either. They had some archaeological exhibits set up that looked like they'd been scooped up from the National Museum a few kilometers over...ornaments, trinkets, roof tiles, platters, plates, carvings...plus this amazing diorama of the entire city when it was at its prime. I took a picture of it not only because it was phenomenal but also because I thought I might use it for the comic book later.

After gawking for a while, inside and out, I headed back down and back out. I thought I'd take a stroll over to the lake and see the fun. To get there I had to cross the main drag, and then the river, in the bed of which people were happily renting ATVs and scooting up and down to their hearts' content.

Soon, however, I'd bridged this gap and was under the comforting shade of the lakeside trees. I strolled along for a while, admiring the Western-style restaurants, the foliage, and the indulgence Koreans see fit to partake of whenever they've been sufficiently productive. The beautiful day was in full swing. Multitudes of children were riding around on little motorized cars and jeeps, bumping into each other and sending adults scurrying for cover. People sat on park benches and stared off into space. Families in minivans cruised slowly up and down the narrow, shady streets, searching for a parking spot. I threaded my way through all this and finally, overcome by the laid-back mood, settled down outside a small shop, bought two ice cream cones, and took the receiver off the hook for a bit.

That was the end. I walked away from the lake, past the Gyeongju Hilton (where one of my students, whose father is some Samsung bigwig, was staying at that very moment), and back to the bus stop which would deliver me to Gyeongju, there to board the bus for Tongyeong (a three-hour ride, ugh) and another from thence to Gohyeon. I arrived safe and sound, if a little travel-worn, impressed at my travel prowess and resolve. In three days I'd seen what it took the Silla Dynasty the better part of a millennium to build. I'd walked in the shadows of history, stood in the hallowed halls of antique memory, been privileged to gaze upon the worn but untarnished past. My soul was wrung out, my mind singing. I won't soon forget it.