Seoraksan National Park

    
     On November 6, 2010, I went with a fellow co-worker on a trip to Seoraksan National Park.  I had gone with a tour group called Adventure Korea and was very nervous to take the hike.  The hikers had their choice of three different trails: difficult 4.72 miles round trip (for expierienced hikers), moderate, and easy (you ride a cable car).  Of course the whole bus raised their hands when asked, "which trail are you going on?"  Peer pressure.  I decided to try the difficult trail.  If you know me well, I have zero hiking experience and thought, how hard could it be.



View From The Starting Point

      Well, it turns out I'm out of shape and I would not like to see another set of staircases.  Ever.  My co-worker, Julie, and I set out at a decent pace, but lost the group.  We came to a fork in the road and took a left.  Suddenly, we hear, "Your going the wrong way (we were easy to spot, in a sea of Koreans)!"  This was just one of many awkard moments.  We veered off another time (towards the bathrooms), were the slowest and last people in the group (we passed people later during a photo spot), and lost my footing (once or twice). 
     The halfway point was Heundeul Bawi Rock (Unsteady rock).  The rock is a 16 ton boulder that looks as if it is ready to roll off the cliff.  I tried my hardest to push the rock off, but was not successful.  It is much like the story, The Sorcerer and the Stone.  Around the stone are Chinese characters carved on neighboring boulders and a small temple in a cave.  

Heundeul Bawi Rock

     After leaving the Heundeul Bawi Rock, the trail become very difficult.  I had to climb an 808 step-staircase with mobs of people!  The staircase to the summit (873m) was built for one person at a time.  You stood on the staircase and had to wait your turn.  It was intense.  I even had an empty Gatorade bottle fall from above hit me!  Once, I reached the top, I almost blew off!  It was worth it in the end.



The Summit



Jjimjilbang

     Jjimjilbang is an expeirence that I will never forget.  After the hike, we traveled to our accomodation in Osaek Valley in inner Seoraksan.  This was a traditional Korean hotel.  In other words, you sleep on a pad...on the ground.  The floor is heated.  I guess thats a perk. 

Traditional Korean Hotel

     After a traditional korean dinner, barbeque and rice, we headed off towards the jjimjilbang.  As usual, it was not easy to find in this little town.  We found a group of Koreans and decided to ask them where it was.  Neither my friend or I  knew the word for where is, so she said Donde estas (spanish).  The gentleman replied in perfect English.  This was just the start. 
     We arrived at the jjimjilbang and discovered that you can not wear any bathing suits!  You are required to go nude.  This was a shock.  I was with a co-worker and the last thing that I wanted was to turn around at work and think....I saw you naked.  We thought, how bad could it be.  You get a towel, and then your in the tub.  After much debate, we decided to do it. 
     Well, the towel thing did not work out so well.  They gave us korean towels.  Which is the size of an extra large wash cloth.  Thank goodness I got two.  The whole place would just have to look at my backside. 
     Once inside, we could not stop laughing.  It was just weird.  There was naked older people everywhere, walking around in the nude!  Here was Julie and I, foreigners with towels wrapped all around us!  First, you walked across stones (that hurt your feet) in cold water.  Next, you went to various hot tubs.  This jjimjilbang was built over a natural hot spring.  There were about 8 natural hot spring tubs.  Each were at different temperatures and had various minerals added.  All the signs were in Korean, so we had no idea what we were going in.  I went into a lot of them, even the purple one (I was praying my skin would not turn purple).  Then, we saw a murkey water tub.  We figured, why not.  It was cold and smelled odd.  Then, we looked at the sign: Carbonic Acid.  Warning: do not put your head under the water.  I got out of that one in a flash. LOL.
     Tradition is, that you go in the hot tubs first, to open your pores, then go in the cold tub to close your pores.  I tried this and almost froze.  After the cold tub, you rinse off.  Traditionally, you scrub yourself down with a harsh scrub.  I opted out.  We did look around and saw people getting a massage and scrubbed down by Koreans.  We quickly walked away.
     What I learned:
            1.  Keep your personal space.  Julie and I were always at opposite ends.
            2.  Do not go in the sauna that is over 100 degrees.
            3.  Bring a regular towel.
            4.  The natural hot spring had magic healing powers!  I haven't been sick since that evening.

Happy Thanksgiving

    I had a great Thanksgiving.  Today was not only Thanksgiving, but also my pre-kindergardeners birthday party.  All the pre-kinders have one birthday celebration at the end of each month.  All of the students who have a birthday in the month of November say a mini speech in front of all the classes.  The teachers work one-on-one with the birthday students to prepare their speeches.  After the speeches, the classes that have a birthday student sing a song.  My students sang, "If All The Raindrops."  They were great!  Next, comes the group birthday song and cake.  It was a lot of fun!

     At the end of the work day, the teachers had a feast.  Our campus director treated us to Thanksgiving dinner.  I had turkey, mashed potatoes, beans, carrots, stuffing, ham, rolls, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cherry pie.  It was very delicious.  We had it in our school library and played Christmas music in the background.  It was nice to share it with my friends and new family.  After dinner, we sat around and chatted, just like home.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Stinky Tree

     I could not figure out what the nasty smell was on my walk to school each morning.  Every time I walked along the river, I became overwhelmed by a rotting fish, mixed with a hint of skunk smell.  I just assumed it was the river, until the smell followed me one day. 
     I stepped on a tiny yellow fruit (the same size and consistency of a grape tomato).  The putrid smell comes from this fruit that is produced by a tree.  Unfortunately, this tree lines the path I take to work.  I now walk cautiously. LOL.