This is going to be a long post so I hope you are curled up in your favorite chair with a drink of choice. Either that or at work pretending that you are doing some thing productive, either way is fine. We shall begin this weekend's festivities with the monthly birthday and song celebrations in Kindergarten. As with every party we start by performing our monthly songs in front of the other classes. The other teachers always find such cute songs for their kids, while my girls are singing a song in a french accent not knowing all of the words. Oh well, they looked adorable as always. Kaitie's classes performed "Baby Bumblebee" and "Old McDonald", Katrina's kids did an excellent rendition of "Rocketship Run", and Amanda's class stomped around in their "Boots".
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| She's so itty bitty! |
Here are my girls singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls"!
The rest of the day went smoothly. After work, Kaitie and I grabbed a quick bite before taking the subway to Sadang station, about an hour from here, to meet our tour bus. This weekend we would be participating in a WINK (When IN Korea) trip to Jindo Island, which is off the southern coast of Korea. I have gone on several WINK trips before, and they have been a lot of fun! It makes traveling around the country so simple because they plan all of the logistics with regards to transportation, entrance fees, and sleeping arrangements. All we have to do is get to the bus on time (which actually proves to be difficult for some people). One time every year the ocean between Jindo Island and the small island of Modo-ri splits to form a walkable pathway between the two land masses. The legend states that the citizens of Jindo were attacked by tigers and therefore fled to Modo-ri to avoid becoming tiger food. One woman, Grandma Ppong, was left stranded on Jindo with the hungry tigers. She prayed to the Dragon King of the Sea to allow her to cross to safety. The king created this pathway for her to be reunited with her family. Now, we get to cross it in remembrance of Grandma Ppong! Pretty neat huh? Anyways, this parting ceremony would be one stop between a couple hiking trips and other excursions. Here we go!
Friday night at 9pm (ish) we hit the road to
Wolchulsan for our sunrise hike. These buses aren't exactly 5-star hotel bed quality, so sleep is a bit difficult but you find semi-comfortable positions every hour or so. The bus stopped in the National Park parking lot to let us sleep until 4:50 when we made our way up to the cloud bridge! When we began our hike it was dark and you just tried not to trip over the rocks and sticks that littlered the ground in front of you. I think we probably looked like a group of zombies following each other one-by-one up this mountain. The hike was not easy by any means. The surface was very uneven and some parts were incredibly steep. While it was only about an hour hike, it was quite a workout especially as some of us were pushing ourselves to make it up for the sunrise. Once I reached the top the view was breathtaking. At about 120 meters up you can see smaller mountain peaks overlapping each other creating a surreal view. The clouds rested on top of these peaks which gave an eerie feel to the skyline as well. As the sun came up the mountains turned shades of red and pink. The pictures don't do the real thing justice. I could have stood there all day taking it in. Some people decided to stay in the bus and skip out on the hike. I felt bad that they missed this incredible site that I will most likely not experience ever again in my life.
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| just the beginning |
After taking in the sunrise, we crossed the "cloud bridge" which crosses over a very very very deep valley. As not the biggest fan of heights, I tried not to notice the slight swaying of the bridge as we crossed to an observation deck. The view was incredible, and you have such a feeling of accomplishment when you think about reaching that point so early in the morning.
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| Notice the "Falling Danger" sign... |
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| Yep- Laura, the heights scaredy-cat, did that! |
As we made our way down, the early morning light created a story-book-like hike down through the woods and next to a waterfall. We commented on the lack of small woodland creatures, but maybe they are scared of huge groups of foreigners too. I definitely would be.
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| You can't really see it, but there is a teeeeeeny tiny red bridge up there where we were standing not long before this photo |
When we made it down to the buses it was only about 7:30 and we had already accomplished so much! Our next stop off point was a jimjebang which is a group sauna where women and men (separately of course) can soak themselves in herbal baths and get scrubbed down until you feel all tingly and squeaky clean. While we did not have time to get the scrub down, it did feel good to shower after the hard hike that morning. It was my first jimjebang experience. I don't have a problem with nudity and here it's all women, so it's nice to not worry about being self-conscious about your body. Just go in, get clean, relax and talk about girl stuff! I would definitely do it again and maybe even get the full scrub? Someday. After we were all feeling refreshed we drove to a Jindo dog show! Our trip planner had gotten us into the Jindo Dog Park to see a trick show. Jindo dogs are bred only on that island in Korea. Considered a national treasure, these dogs are highly regarded around the country. They are known for their excellent memories and their lack of smell (always a plus). The dog performing for us was named Kongto. A gorgeous puppy, only 5 years old, that had been training for merely 4 months! His trainer had him climb ladders, get things out of a fridge, raise a flag, turn on lights, and jump through impossibly small hoops. This dog was incredible! We got to take photos with him after the show. (Saad family, doesn't he resemble Buzz a little bit? Maybe she was part Jindo)
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Finally, it was time to go to the parting festival! At this point the weather was warm and sunny which was a nice change from the cloudy rainy business we've been having in Bucheon. Soaking in some vitamin-D, Kaitie and I wandered around the festival for a bit. Booths from countries around the world lined the streets selling anything from Turkish ice cream to Native American pan flutes. There was also an area to pet some Jindo puppies! As I held one in my arms I realized that my backpack was conveniently jindo-puppy-sized. What would they have done if I took the puppy and ran? If it is a national treasure, the consequences may have been a bit harsher than I would want to deal with at the moment. I'll have to wait until next time to snag one. He was just so cuddly!
Kaitie and I wrote our names on the giant poster lining the railings at the festival and then hopped onto the boat to take us over to Modo-ri. Again, our trip planner got us into the festival on this side of the sea-parting extravaganza. Only 500 people are allowed on this side to cross back to Jindo, while the rest of the crowd starts on Jindo and comes to the island.
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| Lo-ra and kay-tee |
Here we were entertained by a large group of older men and women playing traditional korean drums, as well as fan dancing. There was also a man dressed as Moses (of course) competing in dance-offs with some of our trip members. It was at this time that the weather turned a bit over-cast and chilly. Not prepared for this change of temperature, a lot of us were shivering by the time we could cross the ocean!
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| Laughing agimas and the statue on Modo-r |
The excitement of actually crossing took our minds of the cold though. It was amazing to see the water slowly move apart every few minutes until we could cross to Jindo! Kaitie and I were prepared with our tall rain boots, as some parts of the crossing were almost knee-deep with water! Other friends we had met were not so lucky, wearing shorts and flip-flops. They said it wasn't too bad after the first 30 minutes or so, not because their feet and legs went numb of course.... Sounds pleasant no? I saw several crossers wearing strange footwear such as rain booties (which would just fill up with water), socks (also smart), and nice dress shoes (good luck with that). One husband was kindly carrying his wife across. Our trip leader was carrying his puppy in a bag on his back as the poor thing wouldn't keep above water at some places. As we walked some parts were rocky and dryer, then others were covered with a slippery, slimy seaweed also littered with sea life such as octopus, starfish, and sea slugs! The starfish were a gorgeous gray color with bright orange spots. I've never seen anything like them before! We began crossing at around 5:30, and it took about an hour to finally make it to the other side! At that time the tide was beginning to come back in and Grandma Ppong's freedom path would soon be ocean once more. I couldn't tell you how many people were crossing that day, hundreds and hundreds though! As we made our way back to the buses, more people were still trying to cross the historic ocean path. Boats are stationed in water along the path to help those who become stranded in the middle if they don't get across fast enough. At least they are prepared! This excursion was incredible. When would I ever get to say I walked on the ocean floor?
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| People came with buckets and were collecting sea animals and seaweed |
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| One father came over to us with an octopus! |
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| Amazing coloring on the starfish |
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| Crowd coming towards us from Jindo Island. We were definitely going against the current. |
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| People still crossing after we had made it to the other side! |
Getting back on the bus to head to the pension (hostel), it hit me that we had done so much today and the night wasn't over! After freshening up back at the hotel we would leave for dinner in town at a Dwaeji galbi (돼지갈비) which is a sweeter pork korean bbq. Taking over the whole back area of this restaurant, we made new acquaintances and enjoyed the good food before going back for a campfire/smores evening. By the time we got back to the pension the few hours of sleep and early morning started to take its toll. I did a serious hit-and-run with a marshmallow (aka toasted one, popped it in my mouth and ran up to the room) and got to bed preparing for day 2 of hiking. Some of these trips are known for being a drinking-oriented experience. Therefore the majority of the group stayed up til the wee hours of the morning drinking and talking (well...screaming really). I didn't mind too much, I knew that I wanted to be able to enjoy my hike the next day so bed was my choice. The next morning you could tell who stayed up late and who got to bed relatively early. The pension we stayed in was located on a coast which was beautiful to see both at night and that morning! When I got up the tide had completely gone out and several agimas were out collecting things in the mud. A few houses down I saw a jindo dog tied up to a tree- he obviously was in dire need of an ear scratch. Don't you worry pup.
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| New friend. Probably wouldn't fit in the backpack though |
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| view of the pension |
It was at this point that the members of this trip broke into two groups. Out of the three buses that brought everyone down, 2 would go to Daedunsan (Daedun mountain) for a hike, and 1 was off for a tulip festival. While the tulip festival sounded fun, I signed Kaitie and I up for the second hike (sorry Kaitiiieeeeee). Jindo is about 5 hours from Seoul, and Daedun is in the middle-ish of the two. It was nice to drive half way home, hike, and then only have a few hours to get back to Seoul plus the usual dead-stopped traffic that plagues the city limits on a regular basis.
Anywho, Daedun provides two options. You can either hike the entirety of the mountain, or take the cable car up to the heaven-staircase-ladder-thing. Perhaps I was a bit ambitious but I decided to make the hike up. When would I ever be here again to try it? I joined a couple guys Kaitie and I met on the trek up to the top. It was not easy. I had to repeat Dory in my head throughout several tough climbs (just keep...hiking). We had to take a few short breaks to catch our breath. Of course, as with most mountains, there were hundreds of neon-clad Korean hikers out with their poles and long-sleeve clothing making the hike look easy! Granted I believe we may have taken the wrong way up (apparently there was an up route and a down route), but either way they did not look tired at all! When we finally made it up to the heaven-staircase my legs were feeling a bit jello-like. I wouldn't have traded the hike for the world though. The views were absolutely incredible the whole way up. Again, the pictures just cannot capture it, but I tried!
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| Just the start |
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| View from the staircase |
Now, to this ladder I've been mentioning. We had been warned that it was pretty dangerous. I believe the words from the guide were "I just wouldn't let go". Those were comforting. From the view at the bottom I got some butterflies in my stomach who realllllyyyy didn't want me to go up that thing.
Of course, I did it though! With only a few moments of Laura-what-the-heck-are-you-thinking, I climbed to the top to yet another breathtaking view of mountains and valleys around the area. Checking our timing, we had about an hour left before we needed to make our way back down to the buses to go back home. After the ladder there was this sign.
Notice the words "The Top". After a moment of looking at each other to see what we wanted to do...the decision was made. Of course we were going to "The Top"! Another hard push up 350 meters and we made it to one of the highest peaks of the mountain. I can't even begin to describe that feeling of being up there. You could see everything, even the little speck that is the cable-car we would be taking 30 minutes later.
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| The old cable car- not what were were going to take down...thank goodness |
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| We did work! |
On our way down we definitely decided that going up was less treacherous. I would occasionally hear the sound of people's shoes slipping on the stones behind me and a short gasp or "ah". I really did not want to have to carry any injured friend down the mountain. The potential for injury on this mountain was a bit daunting. Fortunately we made it to the cable car without any mishaps and clambered up the bus steps to rest on the journey back home. Leaving Daedunsan at 5:30 (ish) we met the expected Seoul traffic and finally stumbled out of the Sangdong subway station in Bucheon around 10:15. Not a bad journey overall. Was just so looking forward to falling into bed and getting some rest before the work day the next morning.
The next day I crawled out of bed because my legs did not want to work. Even though I stretched a little after that second climb, I definitely pushed my body hard yesterday and it was thanking me today! Good thing Elementary would be easier, because today we would be performing our songs! I was really looking forward to my classes showing our hard work over the past month or so. Only one student was absent, which is a plus. Unfortunately, the video did not work for my older girls singing "When will my life begin" from the movie Tangled, but I will download it from the school website and get that up soon! Until then, here is my 2nd grade class with our version of "Anything You Can Do"!
Well that's all for this weekend. Hope you didn't mind adding this to your book-reads list! This weekend is a bit less hectic, a field trip on friday, a few cinco-de-mayo and birthday celebrations, but besides that nothing too crazy. Looking forward to that! Overall, I really love these trips though. You meet so many new people from all over. Can't wait for our next trip to somewhere fun!
xoxoxo
Korean Phrase of the post: 예 그런 것 같아요 (yeh keu-reon geot kata-yo) "Yes, I think so"
