Update from Melissa in Gangneung

Here is the latest installment from our guest blogger and ASK Now rep Melissa Steach currently in Gangneung.  Enjoy!

I went skydiving for the first time last year. It was a Friday morning in California and like most every day it was a great day to be outdoors. For years I'd listened as others talked about jumping and said, oh hell no -- not me. But this morning was different. I had the day off, it was lovely and what the hell else had I to do but... jump. I made no phone calls to boast my plans. Instead I turned off my cell phone and drove. As the plane climbed to the required height so did my confidence. Sensing that all I had was the big German whose lap I was now strapped to and the slim but real possibility that this jump could be my first and our last, I relaxed. It was then that I understood how when facing great fear a person can shit their pants: When your mind accepts the plain fact that in this moment you have absolutely no control, the body lets go as well. Kneeling down beside the gaping door of the tiny shuttle I looked at the miniature land below, said a prayer and fell into air. As instructed, my body bent backwards spooning the German and like flying squirrels we screamed, squealed and laughed for what felt like a lifetime of free fall. With my tug, our chute opened silently. Our speed slowed without aggravation. I gasped. My god it's beautiful were the only words I uttered the entire way down. Spring has broken from Winter's ground. My daily hikes have replaced my morning yoga. It seems that people aren't the only life forces I'm interested in meeting these days. On Monday I met a lovely tree named Magnolia. Tuesday I spied a bunch of shy violets. By Wednesday I'd run into some flirty yellow buds and on Thursday I made the acquaintance of a Maltese named Boris. He in turn introduced me to his caretaker Sally, a young woman from California. We hit it off immediately and made plans for me to join she and her friends for some home-cooked Indian cuisine and knitting. Upon learning that I grew up in Alabama -- Sally pronounced that I will meet her expat friend from Montgomery and so it unfolds... By Saturday I was off to Seoul. The city was aflutter. Like bees to honey the boys buzzed and the girls dripped. My five months of feeling sexually invisible instantly combusted. Women of every ethnicity strutted down the streets of Itaewon and I joined in the parade. Dinner was followed by dancing with friends and the young morning found us all at a Reggae club. Though a sudden rain had set in, no dimmed spirits were witnessed. We winded and grinded and all out stirred it up. Evidence of our joy marked by a cycle of condensation and sweat on the club windows. The owner / bartender was an unusually tall, but typically friendly Korean. The Filipino waitresses were a cocktail of bubbly personality, shiny eyes, hair and teeth. The establishment wife was an undeniably delightful drunk. The Africans were obviously so, yet distinctly Korean, switching languages as easily as they swayed to Bob. After no more than a few hours sleep at the jjimjilbang, I awoke tired but relaxed. I was eager to discover what Sunday's jump would show me. My second free fall was tandem with a friend I'd made when last in Seoul. He treated me to his favorite restaurant and introduced me to one of the city's walking river paths. Sitting along the bank, I listened as my new friend shared with me, I watched children playing in the spray that drifted from the fountain. I could feel the setting sun blow warm against my skin, it's breath setting in motion the relaxing of my muscles like an expertly crafted line of dominoes. Reminded of the fifteen minutes I'd spent in awe and silence when it seemed I could touch the earth's curve -- My god it's beautiful were the only words I uttered the entire way down. Melissa Steach www.asknow.ca/melissa