too many pictures

this weekend i went to sokcho with myeong-kwan

and it was really really really fun/beautiful!

it was a little stormy but in a quite gorgeous way.

not only does sokcho have the beach, but it's also 

home to the tallest mountain in south korea - soraksan.

we had a lot of adventures!

here is some photo documentation!

he has pictures of me, so maybe i will post a good one of those laterrrrrr.

first(!) here is the fish market at night.

myeong-kwan picked out the fish we would eat raw

and i had a mini vegetarian heart attack and had to look away as my dinner was 

flopping around mere minutes and feet from its destination in my belly. 

the things on the lines are little squids.

dinner! yumyum

that dude's fishing out someone else's dinner.

i mean the slaughtered fish WAS really delicious. the best fish i've ever had!

strangely enough, driving through the countryside made me think of california??

i miss you, calirelatives!

we hiked a bit up the mountain and there were soooo many people there!

they even have restaurants on the mountain! 

it felt kind of fake, like a disney version of a mountain 

and they even sold silly things like giant plastic backscratchers and mylar balloons.

i think i liked it because it was so different from what i'm used to with national parks.

myeong-kwan said he thought all the shops and restaurants were ridiculous 

and polluted the fresh spring water 

and made the mountain too crowded and unnatural,

which i think is definitely true

buuuuuuut i kind of liked the novelty of having a cafe on the side of a mountain with the 

smells of hot oil frying onions and garlic and chilis,

even if it is weird and makes you feel like you're at an amusement park more than on the biggest mountain in korea.

this is the largest buddha in korea. it was made in the '80s!? there are a loooot of buddhist temples in this area and myeong-kwan even stayed at one for a winter as part of an artist residency program.

that's mah boiiiiii. 

he just got a nicer camera and so was kind of like 

my male version of sewon during this trip.

oddly enough, talking to him sometimes feels like talking to sewon.

he says half his heart is in korea and half is in france,

so maybe that part eastern and part western consciousness has something to do with the amazing talks i have with those two.  

a mommy and a daughter.

a looooot of people chillin, playin, flirtin, snackin and photo-takin!

ok ok ok here's a real photo. he's more handsome in real life, but i had to be sneaky with the photo-taking and so i got this pre-laugh picture that i think is pretty charming. i like him because, like me, he's a bit of a hater (haha, i mean not entirely negative, but a bit critical of some parts of society etc.) but he's also always seconds away from busting out laughing. plus, i like that in this picture he looks more touristy than i did even though he's been to this mountain tons of times. 

the sea before we made the five-hour drive back.

i know i've been a bit silent on the romance front, but i had felt a bit weird sharing that, especially when i wasn't sure where it was headed. 

truly, though, we've been spending a lot of time together, 

and myeong-kwan and i had the bf-gf talk and we are officially bf-gfs.

it was kind of a silly talk that included,

"what do i say? i am not a boy. am i 'manfriend?' are you my womanfriend?"

in korean,

i would call him "manfriend" but also "opa," which literally translates to "older brother."

he said he doesn't like "opa", because to him, it has always had weird gender relation implications like that the man's a provider and the woman whines a lot and asks him to buy her gucci handbags and he treats her like a little spoiled child and she has no independence.

yeah. i don't want that either.

and i'm totally cool with NOT saying "oh, big brother, you're the best!" before a nice kiss.

i've learned infinitely more from dating a korean for a month than i had just living in korea for over twice that time.

all practicalities aside, 

(like having an amazing langauge, culture, and tour guide and free meals, haha),

i really dig him! he's all i ever wanted 

- smart, funny, caring, adventurous, patient, 

searching and exploring, generous in heart and spirit - 

and more!

oh, man, and his laugh, the easy way he moves, the little happy crinkles around his eyes!

and i swear, hearing him speak korean makes me go totally weak in the knees 

(which i think he finds really surprising and hilarious but is so true!) 

the man has a beautiful voice and his speech is like music!

i never expected to feel this way, 

but i'm kind of fallin for him, and vice versa as well!

oh man, i'm in troooouuuuubleeeeeee!