Running--30 Years Later

Precisely speaking, I have not yet been a true runner—as in one who runs on a regular basis—for quite thirty years.  Loosely speaking, I have been a runner longer than thirty years, since my high school years, in fact, because I had these occasional short spurts of time when I would go running in the early morning with my father, one who really has been a runner—in its truest sense—for much of his life.  Not until I decamped from my homeland to dwell on other continents, however, did I become someone more worthy of the label runner.

Although recent years have compelled me to engage more consciously with the continuing depreciation of my running mechanism—my body—there is nothing like running a 10K with the niece and the nephews, runners perhaps more naturally gifted and definitely a full generation behind me in body depreciation—to force a full frontal confrontation between what was and what is!  

And the reality that my average minutes/mile time has increased!

The beginning . . . and I believe there is even a smile!

Near the finish line . . . sans smile . . . hmmmm.

Still, I so loved the chance to run that 10K with them.  (Okay, run that 10K WAY behind them!)

And still, I like to run.  I like that I can run.  I like the person I am when I’m running.  So I keep on running…as best as I can.

And to do so, I have learned to tweak and re-calibrate.  Let me elaborate:

• For two arthritic middle toes on the left foot:  Running socks with toes (brand Injinji).  Whether or not the socks effect a medical difference, my toes feel measurably better, and I haven’t had an arthritic flare up in over six months.

• For plantar fasciitis on the left foot:  One month’s worth of prescription pain killer from the doctor, foot roller, foot stretches, and change up running shoes.  (I have at least two pairs of running shoes in use and prefer to have three.)  No recurrence for almost a year now.

• For occasional twinges in the right knee:  Stretch and strengthening exercises suggested by the sports medicine doctor visited 25 years ago.  (Still the right fix even now!)

• For sporadic hip pain, usually on the right:  Be gentle but try to run through it—this usually works.  Also stretching.

• For sporadic pain in the right shoulder:  Be more conscious of the angle and swing of the arms.  Be gentle but run through it.

And to avoid pain, stiffness, and injury, I have learned these:

• Skip a day between runs and only three runs/week max when teaching school.  (Otherwise, I tend to get sick.)

• Pilates/Yoga.

• Butt kicks, skipping, and a bit of running backwards included at the end of some runs.

• Lunges.

• Walk to and from school on the days without a run.

• Stretch routine, especially after a run.

And I keep on running . . . with more joy in the moment than my face might ever express . . . because I still get to run!

My Summer Vacation: Ireland

About a year ago, my niece Julie, transiting from high school life into college life, sent me an email saying she would like to do a big trip with me.  My momentary astonishment promptly unfurled into enormous delight; for years I have been trying to infect sundry family members with enough of my wanderlust so that one might actually accompany me on a journey to somewhere else, but mostly to no avail.  Minus any hesitation on my part, this proposed adventure was on.

With the whole wide world before us--in theory, anyway--we ultimately selected Ireland.  It is no secret in my family that Ireland is one of my favorite places on the planet, right up there with Hawaii (yep!) and New Zealand, but I don't know whether that fact influenced Julie's interest in Ireland or not.  As for me, I am always ready to go to Ireland!  Once Julie and I decided on Ireland, Julie's mother Callie hopped on board, followed by my friend Beth.  Now we were four, and we had airfare and a rental car in place by March.

Finally, at the end of July, we flew into Shannon, Ireland, and then spent the next eight days tooling around mostly the west coast of Ireland, County Kerry and County Clare.  We also perused both Cashel and Blarney, spent about twenty-four hours on Inishmore (one of the Aran Islands), and concluded our Irish portion of the journey in Dublin. After Dublin we flew to London for almost a day (a bit shy of the full twenty-four hours, though) and culminated our travels that evening attending a glorious performance of Once, a beautifully unique musical set in Dublin and unfolding an engaging array of Irish characters--traditional ones and immigrant ones.

Such a cursory summary herewith in no way summons the resplendence of Ireland for me.  Ireland converses with my soul--the lay of the land, the people, the history, the stories, the music--each and every time I visit.  This summer my soul once again had the chance to revel in that conversation.

My Summer Vacation: Hawaii

For my summer vacation, I went to Hawaii.   Okay, not for my entire summer vacation, but for almost two weeks!  Its preeminent reputation notwithstanding, I love Hawaii.  I loved it the first time I set foot on those volcanic islands in 2007, and I loved it this second time, too.  Maybe I will just have to live there someday!

This summer in Hawaii, I island-hopped with my friend Tammy:  Maui, the Big Island, and Oahu.  Despite being a rather nervous flyer who is very much aware of the safety statistics for airlines and aircraft, I prefer flying in the smaller planes such as those employed by the discount island-hopping airlines.  Go figure, I know; it makes no rational sense, only emotional sense inside me. The flight from Maui to the Big Island in this plane, the smallest we flew in, was amazing. Tammy and I sat in row one, right behind the pilot--a woman, by the way, with a blonde ponytail!

In further recounting of my summer vacation in Hawaii, though, no chronological or geographically meaningful structure remains intact. So, listed below, in no particular order whatsoever, are the highlights, the moments that made memories:

• All, and I mean all, beaches are public.  It doesn't matter how snazzy the resort or upscale the home hugging the beach, the beach itself has public access.  And Hawaiian beaches do carry significant weight in the setting of planetary beach standards!

• There are chickens in the yard, even in suburbia!  There are also "feral" chickens Tammy and I concluded.  "Feral"--but not in an "ew" or scary way--only because chickens will emerge impromptu, so to speak, along a roadside far away from any yard or human habitation.

• Hawaii has the best fish tacos ever!  Fish taco connoisseurs, Tammy and I sampled pert near on a daily basis.  No fish taco remained un-devoured in any circumstance, but we ultimately ranked the ones at the Hard Rock Cafe--in both Lahaina (Maui) and Honolulu--as the best.

• Continuing with the subject of island cuisine, let me also mention banana bread...as in roadside fruit stand banana bread.  YUM!  Long-time family recipes play a role here and a few attain mythical status.

• Hawaii has lots of very cool churches, ones totally worthy of "in the dell."

• The Road to Hana:  On my first trip to Hawaii, we only made it half-way to Hana, via the renowned road to Hana, before our time frame necessitated that we turn back.  On this trip, though, we ultimately arrived in Hana, an atmospheric little town on the east coast of Maui.  The lay of the land along the road to Hana is indeed breathtaking for virtually the entire journey.

• Island volcanoes generally array themselves in clouds.  We saw nary a top of one during our visit, only abundant evidence of their powers of creation and distinctive designing of the landscape.

• For a Hawaiian city, I choose Hilo.

Other random details mingling in my Hawaii recollections include (1) the fact that my hair and nails perform at a much higher standard in Hawaii.  I believe my physiology embraces the Hawaiian climate--yes, even the humidity.  (2) I have become entangled in the TV drama NCIS.  Totally Tammy's fault and the multiple nights we spent watching NCIS marathons on a channel regularly incorporated into various hotels' TV repertoire.  (3) I am also now fettered to the series (books only at this point) Game of Thrones.  Totally my fault.  Curious about all the hoopla surrounding the series, I brought the first book to Hawaii in my stash for beach reading.  Alas, I have since purchased the second book, A Clash of Kings, and the third book, I suspect, resides in my immediate future.

Hawaii commenced my summer vacation in grand style.  The rest of it has unfolded rather gloriously as well.

The Things I Threw Away

Typically I leave the country within a day--or three--of the end of school either for the stateside summer sojourn or a trip to somewhere else before the stateside summer sojourn.  Granted, this pattern did not emerge until after I departed Germany for Asian destinations; in fact, I spent entire summers in Europe several times with no stateside visit whatsoever.  After a brief review and analysis of my history and circumstances, two reasons loom for why this current pattern established itself:  (1) In Asia I have always lived in densely populated metropolitan areas, and I am not a big-city girl at heart; give me some space and empty.  (2) No one ever comes to visit me in Asia.  (WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!!!)  Okay, except for Carolee, who came to visit me once in both Japan and in Korea.  But we're looking at eight years in Asia for me now, a time frame logging a statistically relevant dearth of visitors!

This summer, though, has unfolded a bit differently.  I will have spent nine days beyond the ending of school in-country before I depart for San Francisco to meet my friend Tammy.  Complete responsibility--or blame, but in a good way--for this unlikely reality of mine resides fully with Tammy who insisted that she needed at least a week after the end of school before she could head to the states and meet me in San Francisco.  (Yeah, well, Tammy lives in Germany.)  So, with all potential hang-out and/or travel buddies flown to or dwelling on other continents, I definitely had some down time to while away.  What to do, what to do?  Productivity or dilly dally?

A CONFESSION:  I have never fully unpacked all my stuff since I moved to Baalborn, Germany, in June of 2001, and I have moved three times since then!  In all four abodes, including my current one, one room's destiny fell to the designation "the denial room," and it remained a jumble of boxes--many still taped and stickered by the most recent moving company--and other clutter not immediately pertinent to my day to day existence.  Alas, with the passing years, I drift ever closer to a vagabond status.  So, in a supreme effort to circumvent a total degeneration into a "hiss and a byword" status, during this week of "unassigned leisure" I confronted my current denial room, and the ensuing struggle encompassed the better parts of three days.

In the end, I threw away lots and lots of stuff--some with relief, some with glee, and some with waves of nostalgia.  Although the neighborhood recycling center, the garrison thrift shop, and my church's pass-along table have become the appointed beneficiaries, the relief, the glee, and waves of nostalgia have moved me to bear record of some of those things I threw away. (IN KOREA, NO LESS. WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK THE END OF THEIR TIME WITH ME WOULD BE HERE?!)  Included below are only my most notable discards.

• Financial records for 2001 and 2002 (three bags-worth of shredding).  I finally did locate the box in which I stored them for safe keeping way back in the day!

• All the magazines--two different weeks' worth of issues, actually, so six in total--dedicated to Princess Diana after her death:  Time, Newsweek, and People.  (Yes, I still remember that moment when I learned she had died.

• All my books and notes for learning how to speak German, French, Japanese, and Korean.  (I did hold onto the flashcards I made for Korean, but who knows if they shall ever again be loosed from the rubber bands!)

• The poems I saved written by my third graders from way back when.  (The faded pencil made them impossible to read anymore and so much easier to let go.)

• Every last book and school file for teaching any kind of social studies--history or otherwise. 

• The hospital wristband from when I had encephalitis.

• Two match books taken from the hotel Diane and I stayed in on that Sun Valley trip when we were teenagers.

• The sand and sea sample--actual sea in liquid form long since evaporated--given to me by Carl after he went home to California for spring break.  At that point in my life--a nineteen-year-old junior because I was on the three-year plan--I had never seen the Pacific Ocean, so he brought it to me.  A zoology graduate student (I worked part-time in the zoology department my first two years in college), Carl had meticulously labeled the jar:  sand and sea sample, Newport Beach, CA.  I have loved that gift a long time and pretty much all around the world.  It is documented even if the sand will now reside on the other side of the Pacific Ocean!

This is the "after" photo, and obviously there is more winnowing to be done--photographs and personal history stuff mostly.  There is no "before" photo!

Jeju, Ambivalently Speaking

For Memorial Day weekend, my friend Pam and I checked out Jeju, a volcanic island off Korea's southern coast and often touted—to Americans, anyway--as Korea's "Hawaii."  Whether or not I ever visit Jeju again, I am technically suspending judgment on that "Hawaii" analogy for now, even if, in the meantime, I remain largely skeptical.  Yes, Jeju is an island created by volcanic activity.  However, latitude, for sure, negates a tropical designation even if it certainly has a more temperate climate than the rest of Korea.  Despite the fact that palm trees dot coastal areas and Jeju oranges are famous, the Jeju palm trees look more like those found in southern California and Arizona—two places also capable of producing citrus.  So, again, this Hawaii comparison . . . I'm not feeling it.

Granted, my mental and emotional state at the time of the visit ranked a goodly distance below optimal:  weary and school-stressed, I lacked both energy and attitude to embark on a true adventure.  We also spent inordinate amounts of time in airports on both ends of our get-away due to delayed flights.  And, to do justice to the island, one really should rent a car, which we did not—neither one of us very excited at the prospect of engaging in the act of driving, totally based on our Seoul driving experiences, of course . . . and which, to be honest, really should not be used to judge driving in the rest of Korea!

Hence, with this preface and subsequent disclaimers, I shall now present some photos of the trip and allow you to draw your own conclusions:

Here are views of Hamdeok Beach from our hotel room balcony on various days at various times.

Looking back at the seawall running in front of our hotel.

I did quite like the "stone grandfathers,” or dol hareubang, carved from blocks of basalt.  Traditionally placed outside of gates of villages and homes, these distinctive stone gods offered protection against demons traveling between realities. 

I loved this "stone grandfather" telephone booth!

On Saturday, we took a short ferry ride to the small island of Udo, just off the coast of Jeju.  Here are some of the things we saw there.

Apparently Jeju, which for centuries was quite isolated from mainland Korea, developed a matriarchal family structure, especially in Udo and Mara, two out-lying islands.  Haenyeo, or "sea women"—usually the heads of their families who controlled the income-- earned their living from free diving, often all year round in quite cold water without scuba gear in order to harvest abalones, conchs, and other marine products.  Because of their superior ability to resist cold, women were believed to be better at spending all day deep-water diving.  Even if rapid   economic development and modernization have greatly diminished the numbers of haenyeo still actively working, we spotted some in several different places off the coast of Udo.  

Next are bangsataps, towers made by stacking or piling stones, which were believed to ward off evil, provide protection, and promote prosperity.  Quite large ones can be found on certain beaches, in cities and towns, and out in the countryside.

These last photos are from Hamdeok town, where our hotel was located.

So, do tell:  Are you catching a Hawaiian vibe here?!!