How we made it to the top

We went hiking at Suraksan this weekend (not to be confused with Seoraksan, which we did on Halloween, and is supposedly a 3 hour bus ride away from Seoul). I think it's one of my favorite hikes. It felt like it lasted forever and the peak always just out of reach, so once we hit the summit (at least one of them) we felt like we'd really accomplished something.
This hike was a combination of stairs (I really hate stairs), boulders, and trail. There was a pretty big group of us -- ESPN, her hubby, SOawesomelastname, E=mc2, SOawesomelastname's friend, and the Pirate (honestly, it's getting pretty annoying to give people 'awesome'/fake gangsta names on my blog. I forget who I've previously named what. And SOawesomelastname is NOT gonna last... I'm tired of spelling it 3 times already.) There were enough people there that whether you were ahead or behind, there was someone there to keep you company. So it was a nice hike up and down.
At one point, however, I decided to try leave the path and climb up the side of a mountain. It looked easy enough. There was a Korean in front of me who realized I was following him and when I started to wonder if I'd made a mistake, he said "Ne" (yes) and motioned me forward.
Let's pause. In the U.S. I probably wouldn't have followed some stranger up a mountain. Although, these people are here to hike. They're serious hikers, climbers, etc, which doesn't mean they can't also be axe murders but I'm just saying. But also, this is Korea and I felt pretty safe (with him, not nec on the mountain) and I usually trust my instincts and I didn't feel like I was taking an unnecessary risk. That's not until later.

So, my adopted guide pointed out where I should step and what I should hold onto and even held my hand to help me across a slab of rock. Suddenly we were on a hill and he wanted me to climb around a smallish overhang on a hill. What this meant was that, I was holding onto the bottom of a flat rock (meaning I was holding onto pretty much nothing), walking on a hill, leaning back and edging my way around.

I looked at it and looked at him. I thought he must be kidding. He encouraged me forward. I looked at it again and knew that one misstep would have me falling off that rock. This was not the sort of thing where I could slide down and stop myself. Because I'd be leaning back, that would be it. My heart raced. It wasn't that I saw my life flash, it was that I could almost taste myself falling. And yet. And yet. I knew that if I did it, it would be something I would always know that I had done.

The entire time, I kept saying "Aniyo, aniyo" (no) and he kept saying "Ne, ne, yes." My backpack weighed me back, which added to my terror of slipping and falling back, so once we were almost all the way around, he grabbed my bag, lifting up, taking some of the weight.

Oh, god, I finally made it. I was a little light-headed and some Koreans clapped, but I made it. My adopted guide was so nice, I can't believe he was so encouraging and helpful. I said "Kamsamneedah" over and over again, trying to express my eternal thanks.

After my adrenaline fix, I waited for the rest of my group to meet me on the path and we continued our climb. I always think it's more about the climb than the destination, but this time, the destination was such an accomplishment; we did it!

Where the arrow is pointing is (or is similar) to the scary overhang.

P.S. The guy who took the first picture told us to make fists because we had made it up. He was so right. What a great shot! He also pointed to my shoes and made approving sounds but looked at SOa and his friend's shoes and shook his head. "Aniyo," he said disapprovingly. My shoes got the nod of approval; I'm now an honorary Korean hiker!

"Just one snake?"

When Koreans go hiking, they are outfitted to go hiking. It is serious. When an American goes hiking, he or she might throw on some shorts and a t-shirt, grab their runners and a backpack and then they're off! Ready to hike. The Koreans however are completely decked out in full hiking gear - they have proper hiking boots, pants, hats, backpacks, hiking poles. And while I am puffing and panting up the mountain, holding onto trees to help me up, little old Korean ladies, Ajummas, are tearing up huge boulders, like impatient billy goats.

All their gear is wickedly colorful so they are easily spotted on the subways as well as on mountains.


I love hiking in Korea, though. Everyone is very friendly and we say hello (Annyeonghasayo) to everyone we meet. There is a stop and start to let fellow hikers up and down the trails, the way there isn't when people are walking in the streets. When people walk here, they usually move very slowly, as though they are on a leisurely stroll, which I find difficult because I usually have someplace to go. Or they stop suddenly in the middle of a crowd and you have to hit the brakes before you cause an accident. Or you might get shoulder-checked because, well, you were in the way. I still haven't mastered the art of aggressive walking here and half the time I'm looking up, gawking at something, so I probably am walking the same way.


Today we went hiking. Not in the usual place we go (Bukhansan National Park near our house) nor was it in Uidong where I went climbing. And it was a lot of stairs (I don't like stairs). I prefer boulders or rocks or trails. Not stairs. The hike itself was fine, there was a clear view of the city when we reached the top. The way back was much more interesting. C-M and I noticed a little path up over some rocks with a fallen tree over it and wanted to see what was at the top. We crossed a little bridge when another hiker, looking stern, told us "Aniyo!" (No!). We waited until he was out of sight and then we climbed it anyway.

For part of the way down, we started making up stories about pigeon spies who were reporting our activity to the army. (I don't like pigeons. In fact, I'm terrified of pigeons. There, I said it.) I wouldn't be surprised if they had lasers coming out of their little red eyes, guarding gates and keeping tabs on people (ok, not true, but good story, right?). They could probably eat people. They're persistent little buggers, which I would ordinarily find an endearing trait, but there is nothing endearing about a pigeon. (Ok, I will grant that there was that one movie that one time about the cute and brave carrier pigeon, but it was a cartoon; I don't think it counts).

I was being teased about being locked in a cage with pigeons. 100 pigeons, SN told me, and a snake. One of the passing Korean hikers said, in English, "Just one snake?" Haha, yes, just one.


The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to find a way back down, hiking through what turned out to be a fancy ditch (basically), finding MORE stairs which led to a suspension bridge (which I jumped on like a little kid at the playground. It was fun!), finding our way down and into the coolest neighborhood it Seoul-- Let me pause right there. If I could get a job/apartment RIGHT THERE, I would. It reminded me of Cali meet Old City (any city) with narrow alleys and gardens and mountains. It was amazing.


And now I'm home and ridiculously sore (I blame the stairs) and am currently looking into hiring a personal masseuse (ok, not really the last part). However, I would not be opposed to this as a Christmas present. Just throwing that out there.

Somedays in Korea

I love the sights and sounds and smells of walking down the main street in Gusan in the mornings. Street sellers are out with fruit and crabs and nuts and people are walking and it's colorful and the sun is shining and I want to take this feeling and everything around me and I want to breathe it in and take it with me and I want to share it. I want people at home to, not just see, but really understand what it's like just to walk down the street.

Where walking takes you

Last night I went for a walk. Not so strange, you'd think. You live in Texas or Virginia and you can go right outside and take a walk yourself. But last night, I took a right instead of a left and ended up walking down a street to a part of Gusan (my neighborhood) that I've never been to. Most places were closed but there were still a few shops open and a few people out and about. It was just after midnight. This is why Seoul is my city. I can go out, in the middle of the night and not fear for my safety. And things are still open. Life does not shut down because the clock struck midnight.

The walk itself was nice but it was also nice to see something new. And it was kind of sad. How is that I think I'm a great adventurer and explorer of things when I haven't even completely explored the area?

I like being here. I never thought that I would be here. I never imagined myself here. Never saw myself walking down these Seoul streets. And yet a part of me feels like I'm settling in. Like I belong. Four months in and I knew I wanted to go back home, but five months in and I can see myself coming back. This feeling is fleeting, though. It comes and it goes. I only mention it because it hit so hard last night.

Flower shop

I just had the best interaction with a flowershop keeper and his wife. There's a cute little flowershop around the corner from me that I have been eyeing for several months now. I just haven't had the courage to go in. In a place that small I feel that you're there to buy, not just to browse. Today I had to go in for my Treasures science class. We're learning about seeds and I thought we should plant some as well. So I was on a mission. Find seeds and soil before work.

I went in and in my pretty much non-existant Korean and his much better English, I explained that I needed soil. Soil, he got. When I tried to ask for seeds (in English), we hit our road block. Seeds. He asked me to write it down. So I did. Then I tried drawing a seed with an arrow pointing to a flower. Seed. I tried pantomiming planting a seed and it growing into a flower, but my charades skills failed me. He asked his wife. He wrote it out for her. Seeds. I wish I had asked someone to write it down in Korean for me. I wish I knew enough Korean to say it myself. He finally looked it up in the dictionary and said, "Ohhh!" and said it in Korean, which I've since forgotten. "Seeds!" And then he laughed. And then he showed me many packets of seeds, which were tucked away in a drawer. He took my drawing over to his wife and laughed some more. But it wasn't unkind.

I walked out with a small bag of soil and 2 packets of seeds for KW 2,500! Not only was it an interesting experience, trying to communicate, it was inexpensive as well. I've wanted to buy plants for awhile now, and now that I know a great place, I'm in!

How the trip ended

So, let's start at the beginning. Or do we start at the end and work our way back?

We'll start at the end. Yesterday was a really bad day. That doesn't seem like the way to start. Hm. Let's start over. Our trip to Ullengdo Island was cut short because there was a storm headed to Korea and there wouldn't be any ferries running on Wednesday (our original day to come back) or Thursday. So, we decided to come back early. On Tuesday. Tuesday started out as a fantastic day. We went on the cable cars and jumped in the ocean and it was the perfect sunny wonderful day we had yet to see on the trip. But more on that later.

Our ferry trip back wasn't as bad as the others had been. And we were pretty sick of traveling. It was raining by the time we reached the mainland. We got on our bus and headed home. It was grey and getting to be evening and it was raining. We started watching Iron Man 2 on the bus. My co-workers/friends were in the back of the bus, while I was in the middle because there hadn't been any seats close to them. Our bus suddenly hit the brakes. People in the front screamed because they knew we weren't going to be able to stop in time. It was a space of a few seconds but I can only see it moving in slow motion in my head. There is that sickening crunch of metal, shards of glass flying around me, and then almost as suddenly as it started everything stopped. Almost instantly everyone is asking each other if they are okay, looking out and around to see what happened. "There is a body outside," we hear. My heart stops.

What has happened? What have we done?

We don't know who it is. Is it someone from our bus? From the other bus? What did we hit? What happened? To this day (2 days later) no one has the same recollection. Everyone remembers a different story, a different scene replays in their head.

From what I've managed to piece together is, there was an accident in the road before we came along. The bus in front of us managed to slow down or stop but we didn't. We hit the cars and we hit the other bus. What busted out the window next to me was the side mirror of the other bus.

People from the other bus were out, calling down nurses, directing traffic, and asking for umbrellas or dry clothes or antiseptic. Everyone in our bus tore the curtains down and found umbrellas and dry clothes and passed them out through our window. They (I don't even know who; just other people in our group) managed to keep the person alive and from going into shock. I felt useless. People from my group kept asking if I was okay and telling me I was tense. I was about as okay as anyone else. What was I thinking? I wasn't thinking anything. Or there were so many things going through my head that I can't even tell you what I was thinking.

Once the police and ambulence arrived we left. Apparently our front door was smashed so we couldn't open it and we all had to climb through the busted window in the door. There were two guys from the other bus helping everyone out the window and onto a ladder to climb down to safety.

And that was how my trip ended. Except for the part where a lady at the train station tried to make me pay for her ticket or ask for money and I flipped out on her. I was so angry. Just because I'm a foreigner doesn't mean I have money. And she bought some useless ticket and then when I was crying and raising my voice, she looked slightly guilty and I forced her to take the money. I already couldn't find my subway card, was running behind everyone, couldn't remember which station we were going to; I was slightly frazzled.

We decided that only pancakes and wine could fix this, but finding wine in Korea? That was a bit of a goose chase. When we finally did find it, the guy couldn't scan it and was going to tell me that he couldn't sell it to me. "No," I explained to him in English. "I'm going to buy this wine. It's been one of those days." I don't think he understood the words so much as the desperation that seeped through. He finally let me buy it.

We went to Gia's (nickname for blog purposes) house and talked and drank okay wine and ate great pancakes. I think that everyone had to talk about what happened and that no one wanted to be alone. I went home early. As I leaned over to tie my shoes, glass fell from my person. I have no idea where it came from. It was just another reminder of our brush with... death? life? fear? something we will never forget? I don't know. In better news, the two people from the accident were doing better last we heard.

And that is how the story ends.

Death-defying

...a late night journey in a Seoul taxi.

It was Sassy T, L-G, and myself. We hailed a taxi from Hongdae to the Yeonsinnae/Gusan area. First, the driver took the highway, which means longer cab ride, which means more expensive cab ride. Second, the guy had trouble staying in his lane. He had trouble not hitting other cars. He had trouble not hitting the curb. He had trouble going over 50 km/hour. He had trouble figuring out where we were going. He had trouble just driving. We had trouble keeping ourselves calm in the backseat. We couldn't figure out if he was drunk or just blind. It almost seems funny now, but it was terrifying at the time. Sassy T gave him a 10 when he tried to charge us more. She was firm. I was worried he'd come after us but he u-turned illegally and left. On the walk home, I was sure every cab was him coming back. Suddenly there were tons of taxis around us. They looked like sharks, with their light on top of the car, hunting. They would slow down next to us (to see if we wanted a ride) and then take off. Aniyo, taxi-man, we don't want a ride!

I am safe and sound back in my apartment, nursing a carton of strawberry milk, trying not to think of Soju-happy blind taxi drivers.

Hey

I've been here three months today. Wow. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to DO and, as many people have told me, a lot to figure out. Well, I've given myself an extention so by November 14th I will know what I want to do with my life; go me!

I came home with a rosemary plant tonight; it was abandoned by the side of our house. I'm pretty sure it's dead. But it smells good and I have a vague hope that I can revive it.

I think I'm going to take a rock climbing class and go to Japan. Let's see how everything works out.

I was observed today and it was nerve-wracking. It's one of my (I don't want to say bad, but I do have a lot of trouble with them) trouble classes, but overall, things went okay, despite the fact that I sped through the first part of the lesson because I was nervous that I was being observed. I'm also going to be observed Wednesday and Thursday. We have new teachers; it's weird not to be the newbies anymore. But it's cool! But it's sad. Because people are leaving and, well, that's always sad.

Adventures in Teaching

Today was Thursday and I have a class that I'm starting to dread. It wasn't too bad the first week of school, but as the "trouble makers" have started to filter in, it's gotten worse. They are constantly speaking in Korean, touching each other (poking, hitting, etc), talking, making noises with the table. I've tried different approaches with this class but haven't had much luck. I know that I have to constantly keep them busy because any down time equals behavior getting out of hand.

Today was awesome. We reviewed body parts and how many of each body part we have. Then I gave descriptions of a "person" with three eyes, two ears, etc and had two students draw their interpretation on the board. Then I gave everyone a sheet of colored paper, had them draw their own character/robot/monster/alien and write about it. It was fantastic. Everyone really got into it and wrote and drew fantastic pictures. I think the class had a good time and I had a good time seeing what everyone came up with.

Sweet.

Day Three

...and fire chicken. Before I tell you about my fantastic day three of vaca (it was my favorite), I have to tell you about dinner yesterday. Sassy T (sorry, she already has the nickname and it works for blogging purposes) invited a bunch of people out to what she called "hell's fire chicken." I imagined chicken so hot my mouth would burn for days after. What she meant was rotisserie chicken that was cooked with flames shooting up. It really did look hellish. However the taste was the opposite. It was very tasty (oh, good, I'm starting to talk like my students. Next I'll tell you how 'yummy' everything was. Well, it was). The best part of dinner was the experience rather than the dinner itself. We walked in, and unsure of where to sit, we stood around awkwardly. A gentleman came over, found us a table, cleared it off and chatted a bit before going back to his table and joining his party. He didn't even work there! He just wanted to help us.

Then, as we were leaving and went up to pay and split the bill, the cashier reduced our tab so we all just had to pay 5,000 won each. The bill was 34,000 won but she brought it down to 30,000 so it would be easier to split. It was very kind of her. Korean hospitality made it a great night out.

Day Three of vacation was a trip to Udo, a small island off of Seongsan. The female divers who are now up in their 70s and still dive without breathing appartus dive off the island, but they weren't out when we went. Instead we rented scooters and an atv and puttered around the island taking it all in. What a fantastic way to travel. I was on the atv behind Sean until the last 10 minutes of our trip where I got to ride a scooter! To be quite frank, I drove like an 80 year old woman. I was thinking 'bike' and I was definitely not on a bike. I was exhilerated going 20 miles, oops, sorry, km per hour (so even more slowly than you imagined). But by the last 2 minutes or so, I was so revved up and a lot more comfortable that I was zooming along at a whopping 30 km per hour (please don't tell me the equivilant; don't shatter my dream). Anyway, it was terrific fun.

I took loads of pictures and bumpy video that makes me slightly ill looking at it now from the back of the atv. Crutches took off his shirt part way through, but kept the vest on. It made me giggle. It was a cross between Abu and a ringmaster. I couldn't decide. But he was a great driver. That is, he knew what he was doing (I think). After my initial nervousness at getting on something like that, I pulled out my camera and happily took pictures and enjoyed the wind in my hair and the magnificent scenery of the island. Plus I got a cheap thrill when we revved the engine and passed our friends on scooters.

We took the ferry back and proceeded to climb Ilchulbong Peak (aka "Sunrise Peak"), a crater. For whatever reason, it was harder this day  that it had been the previous evening. I kept stopping to take pictures so I was the last to the top. It was gorgeous. It was only a little disappointing that we couldn't walk around more. Also, I don't know what I imagined a crater to look like, maybe a little more rocky, but this was green and while beautiful, I don't know that you would necessarily know that it was a crater unless you were told. I have pictures; you tell me.

We took the ferry to the island

It was rocky

and green

with fantastic hills that reminded me of Scotland

and funny signs that remind me of "Mind your head" in England.

Unfortunately, I did not heed the muddy slope...

and fell

But for this view it was worth it, don't you think?

the road took us around the island

our caravan

the clouds and the grass

the ocean and the rocks

the beach

a lady drying seaweed

racing past volcanic walls and houses with blue roofs

I went a little camera crazy on the atv

the Jeju group!

at the rocks

and that was our trip to Udo Island

*****************

Ilchulbong Peak

views of the city from above

do you see the sky? it's breath-taking

at the top

it's a crater

crazy face at the top (with my shirt!)

Ok, I saved the beach for last because I miss it already. It's hard to imagine that the sun was so bright and the air was so clean and the waves were so huge when you're sitting in your tiny apartment in Seoul. So, stay tuned for the next and final (I know, thank goodness, right?) installment of Jeju Vacation of Awesomeness.

Vacation! Day Two

Day Two: Manjuggal Lava Tubes

It was a gloomy, rainy day so we nixed the beach idea and went to the lava tubes. My guidebook said it was like Indiana Jones. Well, my guidebook lied. It was like any natural underground cavern you've been to. Still, it was pretty neat to walk through. However in the picture they showed an underground lake but we weren't allowed to go that far. I was bummed when our trail just stopped because I had been really excited about the lake. Alas.

For more information on lava tubes and what they are and how they are created, please go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_tube There's a picture of the Manjuggal Lava Tubes (where I was) third down.

After the tubes, we made our way to the maze but by then it started to pour so we found a taxi back to the bus stop where we waited, wet and tired in a leaky bus shelter. We tried to keep each other entertained. Tex sang, I danced. The rain was nice. It reminded me of home. But after awhile, when everything is wet and your shoes squish and you wonder if the bus will ever come, you want nothing more than to get out of the rain.

We took the bus to Ilchulbong where we went to climb the crater. No one was around so we set up the path. It went like this. CM would say let's just go up these steps and see what's there. We'd do that, gasp, take pictures, wonder if we should go back down because it was grey and starting to get dark, then I'd say let's just go up here and see what's there before we head down. It went on like this until we got about halfway up and then it really was dark and they saw spiders and I saw caves, so we decided to head back down. My fun fact of the night was that volcanic rock absorbs water better so that's why the steps weren't slippery.

Please note: No high heels. They have to mention this because in Korea women wear high heels everywhere. Seriously. There were still women at the cave in heels. And climbing the crater. Everywhere.

Descending into the cave.

A very popular attraction.

A cavern in the tubes.

Cool rocks. Actually it was about 20 degrees cooler in the tubes. The walls were smooth and damp. Yes, I felt them. Wouldn't you?

So cool. Ceiling.

You can see the different levels of where the lava flowed.

In front of a rare rock formation: a lava pillar.

My shirt from The Running Store in VA. I was/am on a mission to take this shirt to the coolest places. Instead of the traveling gnome, it's the traveling shirt.

A pathway lit up.

We walked on the ground for most of the tube but at the end there was a path.

Our bus took us to Seongsan. We weren't sure about Ilchulbong until bam! (yeah, I said it) there it was. And it was spectacular.

Seongsan from Ilchulbong Peak

A wet view of the city

Pretty soon it was night

and we made our way back down...

Summer Vacation!

Finally! My awesomesummervacation/Jeju post. Everyone has been asking about my trip and it's hard to explain such awesome-ness so I'm going to blog about it and include pictures and hope that explains it much better.

Day One - Arrived in Jeju City. First thought: Palm trees!

The flight is about an hour long. You go up, you come down, that's pretty much it. We decided to tackle Loveland first. Finding a bus to take us there was a bit of a challenge but we did and it dropped us off in what felt like the middle of nowhere. And that was bus service the rest of our trip. It takes a long time to get places because every bus is a local bus and stops about every 50 yards (that's what it felt like, ok?) and once you're 'there' you usually have to walk a little to be exactly where you want to go. If you decide to go to Loveland, go at night. It was interesting, but not as exciting (for lack of a better word) as I thought it would be. Here are the G-rated pictures.

Aw. Hearts at the beginning.

I don't understand the pig but he was cute so I took his picture.

This is my favorite picture of my entire trip.

These pictures don't do Loveland justice but it's a little embarrassing to put the pictures up where your family reads your blog. Instead I'm going to post them on facebook (where more of my family has access. Score). After Loveland we headed to Seogwipo (on the south point of the island) where we were staying. After a bit of confusion, we found our hostel: Jeju Hiking Inn.

The owner was a friendly guy who told us all about the area and how to get around. It was five minutes from the waterfalls, had a rooftop where we could go hang out, and it was cheap.

The number, in case you need a place to stay.

Up the street.

Down the street.

Our room. We had our own bathroom, fridge, a/c, and flat screen tv (it only played CNN; I'm not complaining). It was pretty nice considering we spent about $13/night.

And then there was our view from our room.

It was pretty nice.

Our first meal. Korea is all about the side dishes. This wasn't the main meal; this was all the side dishes that you get before your meal to eat then or with your meal. It was amazing. They covered the entire table!

More pictures of Seogwipo, the city where we stayed. It is right on the coast and everyday we had a view of the bridge and the water. There were boats lined up in the harbor. It wasn't what I imagined only because I came to Jeju Island imagining Hawaii. "It's Korea's Hawaii" I was told. But, "It's Korea with a makeover," is more apt. It's Korea with trees and ocean and colorful blue, green, and orange rooftops. And I didn't find this out that first day, but it's lush. Lush and luscious and it isn't until you say those words standing in a jungle that you realize that they sound exactly like what they are. Say it. Lush.

The light is so bright and gorgeous.

These little old men statues made out of volcanic rocks are all over the island. No one knows why.

We went to the waterfalls near our hostel.

They were fascinated by something. A snail I think. There were little creatures along the path to the waterfalls. We even saw a crab! It was so cute and looked like it was dancing because it walked sideways. To the right, to the right, to the right, to the right, to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left....

These were my travel mates: CM, KS, Tex, and Crutches. Yeah, he was on crutches the entire trip. I sort of felt bad for him because he had to lug around his crutches and sometimes we had to leave him behind, but on the other hand, I was super impressed by how well he kept up and how much he did.

At the falls. We are awesome, I know.

Seogwipo.

The bridge lights up and changes colors at night.

Summer vacation rocked!

/End day one. Stay tuned for Day Two.