This weeks adventure in Korea was really a worthwhile use of a weekend. After last weedend's trip to Busan, which absolutely bombed to the point that I dont want to talk about it, today's trip was a much needed remedy.

I suppose it started with Saturday morning and the student speech competition which i helped judge for. (Yay for overtime pay.) Afterwards, one of my male co-teachers offered to take me along for a fun trip hiking just out of town. I figured it'd be a more entertaining time than sitting in a stuffy church for 4- fours sunday morning, so I gladly accepted.

And after just coming back, mostly I am thankful that I packed my big old boots when I first came over. He mentioned hiking and visiting a temple. He didn't mention the three mountains we had to climb to get there!

Summit of the first mountain, just two bigger ones to go!

If you add a rock to the piles along the summit, your wish comes true apparently.
(Isn't it that way for everything...?)

It was grand exercise and I was more than happy to explore the natural parts of Korea. Between the two of us, we moved a lot faster than other hiking groups. So much so, we passed them on our way back down. I suppose it helps that we wanted to be there, whereas the thing to do to create relationship bonding between employees of your company is to drag them on 40 mile hikes over the weekend.

The scenery was wonderful and Mr. Bae always had interesting things to say about the local fauna and region. As he's told it, he was very poor growing up, so his family had to scrounge the mountains and rivers for plants to eat, so he knows a lot of good medicines and edibles that grow around here. Also poisons. He always points out the poisons. I suppose I should be thankful, but honestly I'm not going to be grabbing fistfulls of leaves and sticking them in my stew all willy-nilly. Especially now that I know most of them would kill me anyways.

The iconic locations of ByongJeong-Sa and GyungNak-Jeong are really picturesque presentations of classic asian architecture. The kind of things you'd only see in movies, which they indeed use a lot of these locations just to film.

These old and complex trees take decades to grow, marking just
how old many of these structures are.

I felt even luckier that I was able to interact with the natives in a special way. Some Grandma's were bringing fruit up the hills to offer at  the temples. Since it was no small load, we offered to help out a bit.

Do you know what 40lbs of Watermelons will do to your back when climbing up a mountain?
WELL I DO!

That may have been the least entertaining part of the trip, but afterwards we got to sit in for tea with the monks as they talked about the origins of the Korean language system and other historic inventions of eras gone by. I understood next to nothing of it, but they translated well enough and the tea was pretty good.

A lot of these locations are unknown to the average Korean.
I was lucky to have a good guide!

Now i'm just happy to be back on solid un-slanted ground. I'm gonna sleep really well tonight, that's for sure. These are the kind of foreign adventures that I really enjoy the most. Seeing the sites of old, meeting locals, trying the odd cuisine (did i mention i had sauteed chicken's feet the other day? Delicious! No really!) and just like Louis Carroll said, "To travel is to live." I really understand that now.

This is the oldest wooden structure in Korea. Its sacred,
so you're not to take pictures...........

So amid my new journeys, i've come upon all sorts of people, foods and activities that have been unique, or at least noteworthy. I mostly enjoy chronicalling these things because there's nothing more entertaining than going back and reading your own stupid thinking process throughout your own stupid doing process. For instance!


Just this last weekend we visited the DMZ, which was unique to be sure, but not exactly an impacting event. Just something to say that you’ve done.


Ya, there were plenty of soldiers younger than me toting around automatic weapons. Most of them looking just like boys and even acting it too. Waving to the tourists, and smiling and all that jazz. Funny and not really unnerving, but gave the impression that everything was business as usual, despite being on the boarder of a war zone.


The actual boarder was little more than a wide range of hills and soil. Mostly cut barren so people cant sneak in or out between the countries. Not that they’d want to take that route anyways, since its peppered with landmines. That’s mainly why i was glad the boarder is so tightly guarded, just so no idiot wanders off and blows themselves up. But at the same time, i've heard they have a golf course right along the boarder and within golf shot of plenty of said mines... you've got to really like your golf to play that 9-hole.


We even toured a tunnel which was dug by the North to try infiltrating the south but was discovered. And made into a tourist attraction. I imagine that to be a bit slight at the North. But i'm damn glad they gave us all helmets, cuz I was scraping my head on that ceiling way too much. I was stooping so low for so long, they should have given out canes with every helmet.


Still it was an interesting and enjoyable tour. Even purchased some North Korean currancy. a 5'er. bought it for 10. you figure it out. Anyways. FUN.


But that was after I lost the hat.


My hat. I don’t want to talk to much about it, or even think about it, but it was a constant that I took with me everywhere. More so than my coat. For four years it covered my head, and I loved that hat. I wont cry over it since I loved my dog even more but I didn’t cry over him yet, but its just that time in my life when things are constantly changing, which includes things being lost and dying.


There must be distinct periods in everyones life thats like that. When your young and when your old. People start to die and things become lost. Little tragedies.


aside all that, I did have one event that i'll remember till I kick the bucket. That was bungee jumping.


Just falling off a bridge side. Just thinking about brings my mind back into painfully sharp focus, like im back there on the edge and though you’d think everything would be obscured because of the distance, its not. You can see the suds clearly in the water below as if you were inches away.


And the sight makes you sick.




But dear god I wanted nothing more than to just step back, away from that edge and just walk back down. Nothing would have made me happier. But the only thing that kept me on that edge was one thought.


“Too many people have already gone for you to back out now. You’re stronger than most of them, so you have to go.”


But I didn’t believe that at all. It was very unconvincing. But even so, it was the only process by which I could inch closer to that edge. And let me tell you, looking over a 50 foot drop with just a rubber band around your ankles to keep you from hitting bottom.....my teeth weren't the only thing clenched tight.


The fall was dramatic. Easy to lean off as long as you close your eyes and think about falling into bed or something soft, but then you pick up speed and your heart jumps into your stomach.


and your stomach to your balls


and its just like pure speed rushing past you and through your brain.


and everything is too fast and your arms are numb while your gut is being squashed.


But then the straps grab you around your ankles and pull you up like a pair of strong hands.


Then throws you pack into the air to watch you fall again.


Its only like that once though. After the initial fall and rebound, its just a bunch of dizzying twirling. And then the guy at the bottom pulls you into the boat and tells you to just lay down. Suddenly he is your new best friend.


So all in all it was a very worthwhile trip, and I could see how anyone could get majorly hooked on these adrenalin rides.


For now though, this nice week of relaxation…..is killing me. I have a full week of no classes and half days, but it just kills me to be doing so little and seeing so few people. I guess i enjoyed having a crowd of English speaking folks around me again that now I just miss it a lot.


Sitting from my office seat, looking out at all the highrise buildings.... I feel that knot in my stomach again. Maybe i'll be bungee jumping again sooner rather than later.