First week in Korea

March 5, 2008
On our 2nd day in korea, 9th day of the Earth-Human Leadership Team we visited Sungyemun. A national treasure that burned down in January of 2008, it was built in the Chosun era as the south gate, a gate protecting the city from fire energy. There are three more gates, the north one was built to protect the city from disease. These gates are all found in the surrounding mountains. Here we shared our wishes that the Sungyemun will be rebuilt. We sang Arirang to the people of Korea and did a demo of Chun Bu Shin Gong. We had the opportunity to share our vision through the media and reach millions of people, it was incredible. Afterwards, we walked through a typical Korean market where we had a great lunch and an even better desert, the hottok. Its a pastry filled with brown rice and sesame seeds and cooked on a stove and you just buy it on a street corner! So good!
We then had the opportunity to watch a movie called eight below, which I strongly recommend if you have not seen it. It is a great example of loyalty, determination, humbleness, perseverance and gratitude. I will not say more to not spoil it =)
This evening we had a great opportunity to hear Dr. Ilchi Lee's lectures (called KangChun). His message was very simple and yet so profound. There are two types of ways to use your brain, either for the selfish self and desires or for the benefit of all humanity: Hong Ik. Which one will you choose?

March 6, 2008
Late last year there was a big oil spill of the west coast of South Korea. Today we went to Taeahn, a beautiful place badly affected by the spill. The first thing we noticed was the strong smell of oil. We put on special clothes, boots and gloves, and headed out to clean the rocks with bags full of rags. It was hard work since the oil is gooey and sticky. It was also a great opportunity to go inside and meditate. It made me realize how quickly we can hurt the earth and ourselves but how long it takes to heal (10 years to clean up the oil spill). Today for lunch we had hamburgers, and might I say I have not have red meat for 3 years. It was a challenge to eat the burger but I did it and accepted the food as a blessing. I came to Korea to have an open mind and try everything with humbleness and gratitude. After lunch we had the opportunity to clean side by side with the Korean volunteer group. Since we were all wearing the same protective clothing it was hard to tell who was our neighbor. Even though we did not speak the same language we had the same vision and we worked together as one. This was an incredible experience to feel as one with people across the world we had never met before, but that shared our same goal. There were no language, racial, religious etc barriers when we were one.
After a long day we had a much needed sharing time. Here we had to write on a piece of paper something about each member of the group. It was an exercise to put on paper all of your feelings, good or bad, and learn to be open with each other and not hold things inside. It was much needed to keep the group together.

March 7, 2008
This morning we had a guide at Kuk Hak Won that shared with us the principles and history of Korea and the Dahn Hak philosophy. We also had the opportunity to learn archery. Our trainer started by sharing how one of the most important aspects to remember is your stance and making yourself as strong and rooted as a tree. He then had us focus on our breathing and to use this to calm our thoughts. If your posture is not correct the arrow will move side to side and if you have not calmed your thoughts it will mopve up and down. I saw it also hard to focus on the target. My arrow went down and to the right, I have a lot to improve on =). I also saw that I need more patience.
We then had a relaxing game of SuJoKu, a game YEHA Korea invented and then headed out to Masan.

March 8-9 2008
This weekend was our first demonstration weekend. The first lecture was in Masan and the second lecture was in Pusan (about 2 hours south). At first my heart was pounding really hard and you could feel the nerves starting to come. As soon as we got on stage it felt so focused and connected, calmness inside but yet very strong. While on stage we tried to focus on our brain stem to connect to the oneness of the group and to our audience. Even though we skipped a part of the form in our first demo the group stayed strong and together. It was interesting to see how having a different arena affected the group and also how different audiences can be. It was a great learning experience none the less and a lot of feedback was given.
We went to dinner at a seafood place where we had many different experiences. Even the reactions to the food were very diverse from different members of the group. It was hard to keep my center when live squid was on a plate, I tried all the food and accepted this part of the culture. We then drove to Chunhwawon where we will stay for two nights and have more training.