Free

This past month has been a hard one. From my understanding almost all teachers hit this brick wall of loneliness around their fourth month. This past month has been a blur of sleeping in, hiking alone, getting use to entertaining myself all over again and feeling a little down. This past week I started to feel like my new self again and decided to go to Myeong-dong in Seoul. Myeong-dong is the largest and trendiest fashion district in South Korea. While sitting down drinking some coffee and reflecting I saw some interesting characters.

First I saw these characters. My mood instantly started to brighten up.

Then I saw these guys. I think most of you have seen the popular youtube video of people holding signs for free hugs. These kids must be the Korean chapter? Regardless when I saw them I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that things are going to be ok and all this is just temporary. 

I think I am going to join them next weekend. 

Mountain Hiking in South Korea

I know where I have lived (Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida) the only mountains we ever see are on T.V. Up until a few weeks ago I had not been hiking in at least 11 years, with the last time being in Scotland , let alone mountain hiking.

Every morning when I take the bus to work it is filled to the brim with retired seniors sporting hugeee backpacks, metal hiking sticks, boots and large army pants. At first I thought these people were working in the Kimchi fields but upon closer inspection I could see they all got off at 2 different stops. Finding one I asked her why this was. She said retired Korean seniors love hiking though the mountains and some try to find natural herbs and medicine in some of the smaller less-known mountains. At this point I started realizing that almost 90% of seniors are walking around with the same stuffed-to-the-brim backpacks and coming home at the same time reeking of Soju.

Out of curiosity and the ability to merge into a culture I started looking for my first mountain to hike. I found a smaller one in Yeoncheon but the hike was to short and not near hard enough. It was more of a hill. Then I found one in Soyosan called (of course) Mt. Soyosan. I had passed by the entrance on my way to the subway many a times and always saw tons of people, both elder and young, starting their trip up on the weekends.

Before I started my trip this past Sunday I knew I had to get some sort of hiking gear to fit in. In South Korea there are TONS of hiking dedicated stores. Hell, in my smaller town alone there are at least three nice stores just for hiking clothes. Because you know, who wouldn't want to sweat and bleed in style. I found a hiking backpack and some 2liter water containers to bring some fresh mountain water back home with me for the week. Thinking this was good enough I packed a very light lunch and caught the bus around 3:30pm.

Edit: I couldn't get this song out of my head the entire time and I think it is very appropriate for this. I would pull up the link and listen to it while your going through the adventure with me. 

Listen to this while reading the rest

Getting to Soyosan I found a map and started walking up the paved road. My journey was just starting and I had no idea what I was in for. I took plenty of pictures and will try my best to show you how a simple thing such as walking can turn into your worse nightmare and how insane Koreans are about their hiking trails.

While walking up the still paved road I start to notice the stream to my right getting louder and bigger. I also start to notice many Korean families on the bank of the river eating meals and their kids playing in the water. Everything starts getting really green and the mountain starts to take shape to my left.

Another shot of Korean families getting together for lunch or dinner as is common on Sundays.

I come across a bridge that leads to a area with restaurants and convenience stores. I notice that they also have an outdoor theater and I just missed a traditional Korean folk music performance. Bummed I continue on.

 But before continuing on I take a shot from the bridge pictured above. At this point I notice the wilderness is taking over more and more. I also notice how beautiful everything is.

At this point I start to wonder if this is it? What is the point of the walking sticks and huge backpacks I see everyone with.

Just another shot of a small waterfall. This is where the stream was coming from that was pictured above. See if you can spot the siren.

After walking for 20 minutes I finally get to the start of the real Mt. Soyosan path. Here there are last minute convenience stores as they will be the last ones you see for the rest of the way.

Then I come to the area where the road quits being paved and most people come to. There is this absolutely breathtaking waterfall and a cave. When I was at the bottom of the mountain it was about 82F but up here it is much lower than that because of the cold breeze coming off of the waterfall.

Interested in the cave I start to make my way over the stone bridge.

But not before snapping one more shot off and standing, eyes closed, in front of the waterfall to soak up the cool breeze rolling off of it.

Ah ha! It's a Buddhist praying shrine. Here you light a special incense, make a prayer and put it in the round thing (full of sand) in front of Buddha hoping it will come true.

And of course I had to take a video to show everyone just how beautiful this area was. Sorry it pans fast but I'm working on getting use to it. 

After moving on from this spot I climb some stairs and come to a clearing. Noticing how high I already am I decide to make it a little further before taking out my lunch.

I come to the last resort of the weak hearted. Here there is a Buddist temple (most of it was under construction and didn't make for good pictures) but this area had people drinking natural mountain water and praying inside. I went to fill up my jugs and the man in the light blue shirt and tan pants starts talking to me in English. We chat for a while, I eat lunch with him and he offers to go with me to the top. I agree under the condition that I get back down before the sun sets. He says it will only take an hour one way and we set out.

But not before I take a picture of the waterfall to the right and get yelled at by some Korean man for smoking on sacred ground. You live and learn I guess.

Here is where things start getting fun. And by fun I mean brutal. There is no paved path anymore but just little ropes and small stairs up waterfalls everywhere. How to get to them you are completely on your own. 

Another thing is your never really sure if your going the right way. Instead of putting up signs they just give you a bunch of stones and say "Go for it."

One of those staircases I was telling you about. 

At some point you start playing the guessing game. Can you guess where the path up is? If you said along the ground to the left of the very dangerous river you are wrong. The correct answer is always "The most dangerous way possible."

That translates too "Choose your level of hell"

With all the complaining I have done to this point I have failed to mention how much fun it was in the same sense. It wasn't hard just dangerous at parts. However once you go through the dark covered area he is about to go through it quits being fun really quick and starts to be truly where the weak get weeded out.

A nice break from the chaos.

Once I climbed this small part and was out of breath I knew I was past the breaking point and there was no turning back.

I asked him why I kept seeing these rocks stacked on each other everywhere. He said that people build them in hopes their prayers will be answered.

They call this "Angel Bath" because it is where Angels come down to take a bath. Truly beautiful although taking this picture required me to stand on two wet, small stones five feet above a drop. Hope you enjoy it, dicks.

We came to the last resting point which was a giant stone leading into a 30 foot drop. We refueled ourselves and admired the view. 

Little known fact. This is where the Lion Kings opening sequence was shot. 

This is the point where I start thinking "No"

NO (this path goes on like this on a very , very steep incline for about a mile.)

We finally make it to the top and rest for a while on these giant rocks. While we are resting we talk about what he use to do for a living (business owner) and about Buddhism. 

Then I build my own wishing rock structure but it doesn't turn out so well. Maybe I will get a gold star for the effort?

Then we start out way back down. While not tiring it was hard on the legs. 

Those damn Koreans.

The last part before we make it to the temple again. This whole time the man (his name is Shinn) was keeping up with me. However, HE WAS 63!  I don't know the deeper meaning behind this nor do I want to. 

We got to the temple, walked down together, exchanged numbers and thanked each other for the company. He told me we went up Peak 1 and there are still 3 more paths and 3 more peaks to see. He told me I should wait to see Peak 4, as it is the most beautiful, until very last. I thank him and started walking towards the bus. By the time I got on the bus I could feel my whole body screaming out in pain and after getting back to Jongok I hit up the Sauna. Needless to say the second I got home I was fast asleep. No matter what I said above I would recommend this very highly to anyone regardless of if you take the long path or if you just go to the temple. This is truly a sight to behold and the pictures do it ABSOLUTELY NO justice. 

Socialized Medicine in South Korea

I want to talk about the benefits of socialized medicine from someone who has just gone through it. 

Since last night I have had this feeling creeping up my throat. You know the feeling well. It's the feeling of soreness and is usually accompanied by a feeling of someone putting weights on your upper chest. Today at school it only got worse. I vowed to make a trip to the hospital for the first time in a country where English is not the primary language and medicine is practically free (or so i've heard.)

In South Korea about 3% or so is taken out of my paycheck each month. This month it was 53,00Won out of 2,100,000Won (in dollars that $43 out of $1736.70 as of the exchange rate right this second.) 

With that said I was lucky enough to ask one of my teacher students (I teach a group of them Monday and Friday) if she knew where the hospital was in our town. She tried to draw me a map but said she would take me so I could make it in time. On the way back to my town from my school I asked her what she meant by "make it on time". She said all doctors close their offices around 6:30PM but there are special building that have walk-in emergency rooms that are open 24 hours a day. 

She dropped me off in the middle of my town in an area I walk past almost every day and said we were here. Confused I got out of the car and walked up the stairs as she instructed me too. On the second floor I found the doors to the office. 

The rest if boring so I will shorten the time inside of the office. With no appointment I got to see the doctor within 5 minutes. He spoke English. I told him what was wrong (sore throat, earache, sick) and he checked it out. Very clean office but it was small. For the checkup I paid 4,500WON!!!!!!!!!!!! ($3.72 for the exchange rate right now) and was prescribed a three day medication. I went to the Pharmacy which was the next building over, less than 10 yards, and gave them the script. Within 2 minutes she gave me two sets of packages. One set was every day and contained multiple pills. The other was twice a day and contained multiple pills (around 5 or 6.) The total cost for that was $4.14!!!!!! for the current exchange rate.

The only question I have is if this program can work so efficiently with such little tax money how can we, in America, not come up with anything at all?

The gang solves the North Korea situation

I ride the bus everyday to and from work. It usually takes me half an hour or so to go one way and costs 1100Won (95cents American.) Yeah, thats right America, suck it; South Korea rules in public transportation. Anyways, there is this older man who gets on halfway to my town (Jeongok) and loves to sit next to me to chat. He is a Vice-Principle at some Elementary School and his English is soso. Enough for us to hold conversations but hard for me to catch every word he says. 

The second week here our bus was stopped by Korean military guys with full face-paint on and in full military garb. Once we came to a stop be waved for someone to come out of the road we were in a T intersection with. Out come five large artillery guns similar to the picture on the right. I start to freak out a little and ask him whats going on. He says not to worry that it is very common to see exercises like this in South Korea so close to the border. I calm myself down and he laughs and just keeps repeating do not worry. Do not worry, we want peace and not war. Do not worry, the North will never try anything against us. 


Fast forward to now. The South Korean Government has officially declared that a ship that was sunk two months ago was hit by a North Korean torpedo. North Korea has come out and said that they did no such thing; that this is the South fabricating lies and the North will never apologize for something they did not do. All the South wants is a apology and for the men responsible to be held accountable for the 40something South Korean lives that were lost at sea. The North is....well...the North are acting as North Korea always does: crazy. South Korea has said it will stop trading with the North until they admit they were responsible. In other words, tensions are starting to get a little high here. It's not so bad I feel as I should jump on a plane and head home but enough to where even the Koreans are starting to worry a little that peace between the two might break which leads me to the funniest thing that has happened to me since I have been here.


Yesterday I was riding the bus home from school. The previous week I was at camp so I did not see my older Korean friend at all during said time. He boarded the bus and I waved him over to come sit next to me. After a little small talk I asked him about the tension between the North and South being so high and what he though about it. He said those words I have been wanting to hear "Don't worry, Don't worry" except he added a little twist to the end I was not expecting.


"Don't worry, Don't worry. All Christian South Koreans go to heaven."






.........I had to hold in the nervous laughter.








Footnote: I am not worried and anyone reading this should not be worried either. The chances of something happening are relatively very low. 

Lotus Lantern Festival

This past weekend I happened to catch part of the famous Lotus Lantern Festival. This Festival is the start of a weeklong celebration of Buddha's Birthday (The next post will be on this so I will hold off on the explanations.)

The Festival is always held in the Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall. The lighting of a lotus-shaped lantern in Buddhism traditionally symbolizes a display of religious devotion to performing good deeds and lighting up the dark parts of the world that are filled with agony. Throughout the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties, this practice has developed and been preserved in many forms of public performances such as the lotus lantern service (a national-level Buddhist memorial service) and the lotus lantern parade. The modern-day Lotus Lantern Festival is designed to bring multiracial, multicultural crowds together through an array of festive programs. This year’s festival will offer visitors the chance to make a lantern themselves, taste temple dishes, produce rubbed copies, and experience much more. 


Here are some of the pictures and video of the parade we got lucky and stumbled upon by pure accident. 
(And in case you are wondering this parade makes for a romantic time or first date)

One of the 4 Kings

Another one of the 4 Kings

There were plenty of dancers to go around

I have no idea

There was a hugeeee line of people holding lanterns behind this guy

Elephants bring good luck

And then for your viewing pleasure I took more video this time (I am going to try to make this a habit.)

Musings on South Korea

I haven't made an update for a while because I have been musing on how I would describe this place as a whole.
I have been trying to go out as much as possible and force myself to do things I would not normally do. Oh, I still follow the wind like I was made out of leaves but it has been blowing me all around.

For example, I went to a bath house Sunday. Without going to much into detail (as I plan a whole update about it later) lets just say wearing anything is not an option. Truthfully, this factor did not bother me one bit and it surprised me that it didn't.

The feeling of South Korea is one mixed between hopelessness and possibilities. The hopelessness comes from the farming environment that accounts for more than half of South Korea. This leaves most of the older people riding buses every morning to the Kimchi fields for a hard days work. With the money they make they usually spend it on sending their children to better schools and buying them all they can. On a side note the reason kids are pushed so hard here in the field of education is because all their parents, who live in that endless cycle of farming, want their kids to break the cycle and do something better with their lives. If anyone reading this has ever lived in a small farming town they know the ramifications of this cycle.

However though all of this I have never met such a collection of people who are always smiling, always joking, always curious, always respectful of their elders not so accepting of their 6 days a week 12 hours a day schedule. They truly take pleasures in the small things and are happy just being around each other. They don't care so much about politics or religion differences (like in the states) they are just care about having fun and enjoying the life you are given.

To say that South Korea's culture is one of family (whereas the West is one of individuality) would be completely accurate.

I am so use to caring about politics and it being an everyday event. I am very use to worrying about all the small things and how things will work out. I am not use to not checking news sites. I am not accustomed to letting go. However I find the things that always gave me problems are now starting to go up in smoke and it feels like a heavy weight has been lifted of my chest. I care more about finding the next adventure, no matter how small or big, than how America is fucked on healthcare.

Don't get me wrong, I still think and debate on things that make my heart increasingly heavy but being here has breathed fresh air into these tired lungs. My fear, and one of the few ones left now, is that when I leave here this feeling will not travel with me.

Love

South Korea: Loving every second of it.