Mt. Seoraksan

A couple of weekends ago, I went with some friends to the east coast of Korea to climb a mountain. Not just any mountain, but one of the biggest mountains in Korea. Named Mt. Seoraksan, this behemoth is just over 1700 meters tall (5500 ft) and took us 9 hrs to go 10km up and 5km down. Ridiculous, I know. I can honestly say we didnt know what we were getting ourselves into when we planned this trip and were a little too arrogant (or uninformed) starting out. The problem with Mt. Seoraksan is that it is deceptive; it starts with about 2km of winding, paved trail and you are surrounded by families. Even when the pavement disappears, the path is still gradual and nonthreatening. It wasnt until we had a little over 5km to the top that we realized this was going to be harder than it looked. At that point, the path seemed to head straight up with no sign of relief. The last 5km were a hellish combination of steep man made stairs and unevenly placed stone ones. Some of us wanted to turn around, but we persevered and made it to the top where it seemed we had risen above the clouds and the weather was completely different that what we had left below us.

The hike itself was beautiful and I dont regret doing it for a minute. We spent a lot of time hiking along a river that had cut away at the rock, leaving us with amazing views of rock walls to either side of us. We had lunch by one of the water falls that feeds the river and I even braved the frigid water to go swimming because it was crystal clear.

We took a shorter way down that was also riddled with so many awkward stairs that it crippled the remaining parts of our legs that hadnt given out on the way up. This shorter way dumped us out at the other end of the park, about as far away as we could have gotten, but everyone was so exhausted that we were glad to pay the cab fare back to where we were staying. Needless to say, everyone was worn out for the next few days and my legs hurt for the next week, but I had a blast and its always nice to get out of Seoul.

Compared to the hikes I have done in the city, this one was infinitely more difficult, but less intimidating since we never had to use ropes to keep us from falling to our deaths. Would I do it again? Probably not. But would I recommend it for people to do? Absolutely.

Im still alive!

For those of you out there questioning my lack of updates, heres your answer: its been a really busy but also pretty routine few weeks. Ive got "Open House" coming up at the end of June which is just an excuse for the parents to watch me teach their kids. Its pretty much a scripted performance, but the trick is to convince the parents otherwise so it appears that I typically do that much work and prep and their kids are always that smart and attentive. So, Ive been spending a lot of time working late on flashcards, posters, role play scripts, etc and a lot of class time reviewing it without specifically saying why, just in case the kids get the idea to tell mommy they have been practicing daily for their 'unscripted' open house.

I did have a great time last weekend celebrating two birthdays and enjoying the weather. I spent Saturday afternoon at the horse track with my friend, Phil, who simply wanted to bet on the ponies to celebrate his birth. I came out about $10 down and he about $5 up so no real harm done. I was disappointed with the last race, I had $5 on an American stallion named "Storm Feet" who started strong but then faded on the home stretch. However, after observing some of the locals on the way out, many of whom appeared to be crying or without enough money to take the subway home, I consider myself lucky to not have my life riding on these animals.

I spent Saturday night with more friends and coworkers for our friend Pam's birthday. We met at a local park as she simply wanted to have a picnic and enjoy time with friends. We had a great time drinking, eating, dancing and riding tandem bikes.

Sunday was spent wakeboarding on the river, lounging in the sun and eating cheaply at the Costco food court. All in all a really fun weekend and Im happy I had some great people to spend it with and enjoy some time away from work.

Hope all is well in the USA, look forward to hearing from and seeing you all soon (just about 9 weeks!)