Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, June 13

- Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Walk Album Link

Chiaksan National Park, October 28th

In front of the templeThe temple sound system--say what?Man in pink scarf and jacket poses for his picture

Seoraksan, Daecheongbong, October 15th

Just north of Gangneung and west of Sokcho is Seoraksan which is one of the more famous national parks in Korea. It claims such fame in part, I believe, to the amazing colors in October. People flood the park by the coach-load, and hotels double their prices. It covers a large area, and there are many different hikes as well as hot springs. Morten got it in his head that we needed to climb the highest peak in the park (the third or fourth highest in South Korea), so we drove up early-ish on Sunday morning to scale 1708m (5603 ft) Mt. Seorak, or Daecheongbong. The 5km climb to the top was punctuated with rock stairs, metal stairs, wood stairs, and long lines of hikers, most of them coming down. The summit was so crowded that we had to stand in line to have our obligatory pictures with the obelisk. Morten had packed some tasty pasta salad for lunch, but I was so spent that I was only able to eat a few bites before my stomach revolted. I later explained delirious to Morten as being crazy from exhaustion, and he agreed that, yes, I had probably been delirious. The climb down was wonderfully solitary as most of the hikers had either already made the descent or were staying the night at the peak. We reached the car just as the last daylight was fading. Even though I couldn't walk for three days post-hike, I'm glad I did it, and we got some amazing photos.

Sogeumgang, September 23rd

Fall here in Korea has been absolutely fantastic with clear, mild weather and beautiful colors, even with the abundance of evergreen trees. Morten and I decided to hike Sogeumgang to take in the beautiful fall scenery (you might recognize this hike as I've done it several times).

Ulleungdo, August 1-3, FINAL PART

It turns out that Bryce did NOT kick me in the head while we slept. The next morning we decided to go hiking. Please follow the photos through our day.

We found the unmarked trail thanks to one of our guide books

We passed many hillside farms on the way.

It was a beautiful day, and the view got better and better as we climbed higher and higher.

I suffered a toenail fracture (but certainly not because I kicked my own foot).

We stopped to rest on some benches and snap some promotional photos for Pocari Sweat.

When we reached the top, we were very frustrated by the lack of view.

There was, however, a nice lookout facing the other side of the island.

After the hike, we showered, hung our wet clothes on the roof, and begun a fresh set of activities.

We sampled some delicious mineral water purported to have great health benefits. Bryce couldn't keep his hand steady on the camera.

Next we took the cable car up to the viewpoint.We saw a bird's eye view of the city...

...and looked in the direction of the highly contested Dokdo.

That night we sat in the harbor and talked and watched people and boats come in and out.

On our final morning, I snapped a picture of squid drying in the harbor before we caught our ferry back to the mainland.

Mureung Valley, June 11th

Hopefully you can stomach one more blog about me hiking in the beautiful mountains of Gangwon-do, though I'm sure it won't be the last. I put my quest to hike Noinbong on hold for awhile thinking I should see some new terrain. I got started kind of late on Sunday afternoon but struck out anyway. I took a bus 40 minutes south to Donghae where my guide book told me I could catch a bus every 10 minutes for a 20 minute ride to Mureung Valley. I waited for over 30 minutes and finally caught a bus that took almost 40 minutes. I didn't mind waiting, but it meant that I didn't start hiking until 5PM. Given the late hour, I decided to only do the 1.1km hike up to one of the temples. I might have been better off doing the 2.0km hike to the falls--it took me an hour to hike 1.1km. It was worth it, however. The steep climb provided spectacular views of the valley, and the trail wasn't very crowded. I stopped for a rest and some peaceful reflection at the temple, and it was very restful and peaceful--until a monk started cutting wood with a chainsaw, that is. I just had to laugh, then took off down the mountain. I had no problems with the buses home.

Nakyeongpokpo, Sogeumgang, June 6th

Okay, back to regular posting. Tuesday the 6th was Memorial Day here in Korea, and we had the day off. I decided to go hiking, once again at Sogeumgang in Odaesan National Park. I'd previously done a short hike to Guryong Falls and wanted to go back in order to climb to the top of Noinbong Peak. It was 9.6km to the top, and still not being very good at translating kilometers to miles, I didn't even consider that I wouldn't have time to finish the hike. With only 2.3km to go, however, I decided to turn back as the sun was sinking low in the late afternoon sky. It's not very common here to see women out hiking by themselves, so I get plenty of surprised looks and the occasional thumbs up, and this trip was no exception. One older man even went so far as to keep an eye on me, never letting himself get so far ahead that he couldn't turn around to see how I was doing. That would have been creepy anywhere else, but I've come to expect that sort of behavior here. Overall it was a nice hike, but I still have yet to see the elusive Noinbong Peak!

Morning Kinder Picnic, May 31st

The picnic was on the calendar months ago for Saturday, May 27th. The parents were invited, and we teachers spent most of our afternoon time in April and May choreographing a special performance of Puff the Magic Dragon. The 27th came, and as we were dragging ourselves out of bed earlier than we ever do on Saturday mornings, the phone call came, canceling the picnic due to rain. I hadn't even looked outside. Julian decided with the parents to reschedule for the 31st, a day we were supposed to have off due to elections. We had been planning on spending the day at the Dano Festival and were a little frustrated by the sudden lack of day off, but we sucked it up and went with the plan.

Fortunately Wednesday morning was lovely--sunny without being too hot. We drove to a recreational area in the mountains about twenty minutes out of town, checked out the facilities, and waited for the families to arrive. I had a good turnout from my class--eleven of twelve of my kids showed up with their moms and a couple dads came as well. It was really interesting, and in some cases eye-opening, to meet the parents and see the kids with them.

When everyone was assembled, two park guides split us into groups and took us on a nature tour around the mountain that lasted over an hour. They had the kids find different shapes in the plants, draw things they heard, and try to throw pine cones into a circle. It was fun for them. The parents documented every move of their children with the latest in digital technology. Back at the picnic area, we dug into box lunches of gimbap along with watermelon and other little snacks and treats the parents lavished on us.

After lunch, it was time for the long-awaited, much-anticipated performance of Puff the Magic Dragon. We had three kids on wood blocks, three with triangles, a pirate, three 'noble kings and princes', a Puff, a Jackie Paper, and a chorus doing motions throughout the song. The parents loved it so much that they made us do it a second time.

Marc then led a couple lively rounds of Red Light, Green Light and Red Rover, Red Rover. Following that, we got everything packed up and into the cars just before the sky opened up and dumped torrential rain on us. Below are some additional photos from the day. A note about the picture immediately following: these women have to be two of the world's most beautiful and most fashionably dressed mothers. The one in the blue hat, Sally's mother, has a penchant for earrings and has kept me well-supplied with large Korean earrings.