Monday, October 1, 2012

Seoul Writer's Retreat

Retreats are glorious.

I belong to a creative writing group in Seoul called the Seoul Writer's Workshop.  It meets every week (alternating between poetry and fiction), and has been a great way to meet other writers and give and receive critiques, and generally slow the brain atrophication process that set in after graduation.

Atrophication.

This weekend/week is the Korean holiday of Chuseok which is generally described as a Korean Thanksgiving - a three day holiday for families to gather and eat.  Or, for expats, a three day holiday to travel around Korea/Asia; in my case, on a writer's retreat in Jeungpyeong-gun, a couple hours southeast of Seoul.

And so it was that I found myself nestled in a pension surrounded by breathable air, rocky streams, and mountains filled with broccoli trees.  The renewing effect of nature, of solitude, of friendly company -- of writing -- is...nice.  We rented two small pensions (vacation cottages) for our group of 16, which meant half of us slept on thin mats and fat blankets on the heated floors. Each pension had a couple of bedrooms, a common area, a bathroom, and a kitchen (or two).  And writers.

Writers are interesting creatures.  We had some great discussions, including one on when/why we decided to start writing.  It's not something I think about often, because it's an urge that feels so natural to me, like breathing or watching Firefly -- it's always been there.  I never classified myself as a writer for the same reason I never called myself a breather - it never needed a descriptor.  Also, titles=pressure and standards.  It's strange for me to remember that some people dislike writing and find it tedious and unnatural, that some people process through different outlets.  Some people are actually living their lives. :P

**

Four or five of the retreat attendees were dealing with breakups.  The sense of losing the investment of time, emotion, effort.  The realization that breaking up with someone does not make you a quitter or that you will one day fail at marriage.  The transition into thinking of yourself as a single entity - the removal of his/her armchair in the corner of your mind.  And the opening of doors.

**

Our activities included free writing, prompted writing, and group discussions, though the majority of the time was unstructured and we were left to wander, write, read, and meet people on our own.  Night meant sudden temperature drops and grilling meat and vegetables.  Morning meant splayed bodies and scrambled eggs.  Our group represented America, England, Canada, New Zealand, and Korea - with the majority being American.   Our ages ranged from 22-50's. 


I managed to forget my fancy photo taking device and instead snapped a few iphone shots.  Enjoy.













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