The Adventure Stays Inside...Day 18 in Korea

I woke up Sunday morning, eager to put on my backpack and tennis shoes and go hiking up the mountain. Unfortunately, when I looked outside I could see that it was raining. I decided to wait out the rain, so I killed time by Skyping with people, doing laundry, and cleaning my apartment. I showered, shaved, and cleaned my bathroom. I made sure that every dish was washed and dried.

The rain still fell.

I practiced my Korean. I made my bed. I folded my old laundry that I'd hung out to dry. I watched Podcasts of Joe Rogan interviewing celebrities. The first Podcast that I watched had Joe Rogan interviewing Chael Sonnen from the UFC.

Chael Sonnen: Nice Guy

Chael Sonnen has a reputation for being a loudmouth and a jerk, but in the Podcast I could clearly see that he did most of that for show, and that one-on-one he was actually a very polite, thoughtful, and intelligent human being. I wound up really liking Chael Sonnen.

The rain never stopped.

The second Podcast that I watched featured Tito Ortiz. (Also from the UFC)

Tito Ortiz

Tito was known in the UFC for being a man to make excuses, dodge fights, and talk crap about others. According to Tito in the interview, a lot of that was really slanted by the UFC. He admitted that he trash-talked a lot, but he said it was to put on a show and hype up the fight. He said that he was very grateful for everything that had been done for him in the UFC. He admitted that he and the president of the UFC (Dana White) disagreed on many things, but he said that he regretted publicly insulting him and was thankful for everything that he'd done for him. It was very interesting to hear about his childhood and his former drug addictions. It was really cool to hear him talk about his dreams as a kid and how he'd worked hard to make those dreams come true. He said he pushed his kids in school, and made sure that they respected their mother and him. It was also cool to find out that he taught classes for kids at his gym. 

The third Podcast featured Maynard James Keenan from the bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer.

Maynard James Keenan

In addition to performing in bands, Maynard had recently started making wine out in Arizona along with a friend of his. He owned a few wineries, and it was interesting to hear him talk about the different processes  that went into making different kinds of wine. He also talked about some of his experiences in his bands, and also to hear about his training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the Gracie family. You can see some of his technique featured in this video.

The sound and image for this video aren't very good, but Maynard's shoulder throw and rear-naked choke are top-notch.


Each Podcast was over 2 hours, so by the time I finished watching them all, it was time for bed. I went to sleep, wishing I had been able to go outside and explore Korea, rather than watching Americans talk about their lives.