lunar new year (hiking wolchulsan)

The highlight of our Lunar New Year was spending it climbing Wolchul mountain in Korea's smallest national park. It may be the smallest, but I think it holds the biggest mountain I've ever climbed! Wolchulsan means "mountain where the moon rises" and apparently has beautiful views at sunset. We didn't stay till sunset, but the views were still incredible.

Fun fact: "-san" actually means "mountain" in Korean. :)

Thursday morning we woke bright and early to catch the bus from Gwangju to Yeongam. About an hour or so in length, it was a little nerve wracking not knowing exactly where to get off the bus. Many of the towns sounded the same and all the signs I saw along the way were written in Korean! 

Luckily, we waited long enough and the bus terminal was written in English - "Yongam." I think it ended up being the fourth stop and we knew we were in the right place. We caught a taxi to get the rest of the way to the mountain and were there so early that we didn’t see anyone at first. The information centre we first came across looked closed, but luckily I tried the door anyway and we scored ourselves an “English” trail map. We walked along a little garden of statues on the way to the trail. 

After a little stretching (because they have areas with outdoor signs with stretching poses for you to use!) we started our journey. The incline of the path was already warning us of what our legs were in for that day! We hit a fork in the road and chose the path that lead to a waterfall. It turned out to be the best idea because the path was well made, and ran next to a river and had gorgeous views. The water was so calming as the stairs burned, haha. There were so. many. stairs. At some points it was so steep to climb that there were ladders, too. 

Eventually we had the cloud bridge in view and that motivated us to keep going! We were so close!

When we got closer to the top, the weather started getting colder. As we went along we were passing signs that said “Watch out for Lightning”, “Watch out for Falling Rocks” but finally, we came to signs that said “Watch out for Falling Ice” we realized that there was more and more snow near the top and we looked around and found icicles! Finally, some winter here in Korea!

And then, we reached it! The Cloud Bridge! We couldn’t believe how high we were! We crossed the 52-meters suspended 120 meters from the ground. We made it!

We wanted to continue on to the peak but the trail is closed off until the end of February. We made our way down by a different path but boy was that difficult. It was all natural rock, not much to hold onto and there were patches of ice and mud that we had to try and navigate.

The best part was talking to the fellow hikers! Korean hikers seem to be the happiest people! Smiles and hellos and exhausted faces rooting each other on. Despite the language barriers, we still all communicated and it was such a lovely experience. There was a sweet couple from Seoul that stopped for a few minutes to talk to us. They asked us where we were all from, and even gave Fran a hug when he found out she was Christina’s mother! It was their first time climbing the mountain too and we offered each other encouragement before we all continued in the opposite directions. Those are the kinds of generous souls that make me happy to be here. 

Nearer to the bottom we walked past a couple of temples, a bamboo forest and a special grave/ memorial. Many beautiful things. To end our day at the mountain we went into the cozy cabin-like restaurant on site and ate spicy ramen soup and breaded pork. So yummy. I also had an iced Jujube tea - a type of fruit not to be confused with the candy back home!

It may have been hard, but I loved every second of it. I don’t think I’ve done anything so beautiful or as challenging as Wolchu mountain. The most pleasant surprise is that I don’t feel very sore after doing it. Climbing all those stairs to my apartment every day over the past month must have made a difference! 

on adjusting

Over the last few weeks, my knowledge of Korean culture has expanded by about 5000%, and I know I have barely covered the basics. Being here, living here, has been about adaptation on every possible level.

Things are different here.

I don't think I can emphasize just how much of an alternate universe experience this place is to what I've known. Thankfully within what surely would have been chaos and despair, I was given warm and welcoming people to help guide me in this country. And YouTube, thank GOODNESS for YouTube!

Lemme try to sum it up in point form:

The apartment:

I already mentioned I have to walk up five flights of stairs to get there, but did I mention that all of the appliances we own are in Korean? I know, I probably should have expected that! There's nothing like laundry day and trying to decide what button to push for the wash cycle to prove I'm not in Newfoundland anymore. 

The job:

It's been quite the learning curve adjusting to my job life since I've been here. Familiarizing myself with the curriculum and getting to know the kids have been the most interesting challenges. Playing with children and teaching them aren't one and the same, believe it or not. I've been learning to simplify my words, speak more slowly and repeat myself a lot. I get surprised by something different almost every day but funny enough, kids are kids no matter where they are from.

The location:
Yeosu has a beautiful, rugged coastline and many hiking trails made for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages. I think that's where the familiarity between here and home ends. I'm used to the quiet of my small populated town where people wave hello even if they don't know you and I have to drive ten minutes to get to a store. Buildings don't reach higher than a story or two. Here however, the streets are kept pretty busy, cars don't always stop at red lights or for pedestrians, and you will see tons of illuminated signs of mismatched businesses that reach to the sky.

These are not necessarily negatives, mind you! Just different. I practically step outside my apartment and within a few blocks I have most everything I need. Emphasis on need. If you need a coffee shop, mini-mart, bakery, or a grocer for basic veggies? Great! There are plenty of those. If you want a decently priced/familiar clothing shop, or something fancy like coconut oil, you'll have to go a little farther. Or, order online! 

The food:

Koreans have a style and tradition of their own when it comes to their food culture. There are special social cues and formalities for the way you present food or drink to each other. Then there's other visible aspects: I've of course enjoyed many meals seated on the floor in my living room or bedroom at home but never before have I had meals while sitting on the floor of a restaurant. I was pretty excited for it! I have to say it was fairly comfortable and cozy with the heated floors and pillows! If you don't mind a few inevitable 'pins and needles', I recommend. 

You also have to turn your heat tolerance up a notch or seven to be able to enjoy many of the dishes. I taste test the kimchi every time I see it on the table but I aways make sure there's plenty of water close by. 

The language:
I knew I didn't mind being around conversations that didn't involve English from all my time on the ship. I was used to picking up a word here or there to get a satisfying general gist of what my Mexican or Brazilian friends were discussing next to me. Of course, they weren't ever trying to be rude, it's just natural to revert to your native tongue when you are with people who know it too. All those years studying French taught me that!

Here I don't understand beyond "annyong-haseyo" aka "hello". 

Guys, the biggest struggle of all is not having the ability to ask for help or directions from a local. Sure, you can manage to express a question through some artistic pointing and miming, but unless they are willing to point and mime back, their answer is just a bunch of strange sounds no matter how kind it is for them to try. 

Thankfully all of my solo moments of communicating at stores or at coffee shops have been fine so far, with their kind attempts at meeting me half way. For example, a nice lady at Emart pointed out that I could get 20% off my shampoo and conditioner if I bought them together (even busting out a calculator to show the price difference). And the only English word involved was "shampoo!"

Despite these 'minor' differences, I am really enjoying my time here. Learning about the differences and truly experiencing them was part of the reason why I wanted to come here in the first place. If I wanted a lifestyle change, I've defs got it.

*Above photos taken at the Yeosu Expo 2012 site // hanging with Yeosu's adorable mascots.

korean buffet + park lights

Saturday night we had a farewell party for one of the teachers at our school. She's going on maternity leave which is incredibly exciting, but it will be sad to see her go! The headmaster took us all out to a delicious Korean buffet called The Way in an area called Soho-dong. It was great to be able to experience one with people who can explain what I'm actually eating and point out the good stuff to try. I had 'bread soup' a sweet and creamy soup that had cheese over the top reminding me of French onion soup. I had deep fried shrimp, kimchi, sushi, meat dumplings and the most adventurous of all---octopus! Not bad, really. I opted for the one that didn't look like octopus though, I'm not that brave just yet.

Then it turned into a girl's night! The headmaster went home to take care of the kiddos, letting his wife have the evening off. We drove to see the lit up view from the harbour. The city lights were amazing. They then drove us to a park that Martha had mentioned we'd like to visit before the light display is taken down. It felt like Christmas all over again there it was so pretty!

To warm up, we went to a coffee shop called People coffee roasters. Lisa claims its the most famous coffee shop in Yeosu. I really liked the atmosphere in there, with all the neutral wood, the frosted glass designs, and the books--even if I can't read 'em. We went to the back room that had quilts on benches and spread out around a toasty stove fire drinking tea and coffee. At one point they passed Martha and I a piping hot sweet potato wrapped in foil and told us to "enjoy!" I don't think I've ever had potato in my hands and eaten it like a snack before. Jeniffer demonstrated how they normally eat it, by just pulling off the peel to get to the sweetness inside. "Just rip!" she said.

I enjoyed spending time with my co-workers and getting to know them a little more outside of work.

Martha and I got back to the apartment and realized it was only 9:30pm. We decided to see if there was anything going on at Kumpel, the usual hangout for the expats I've met around here. Mr. Lee was there and remembered my name which was super sweet of him and made us a Korean pancake with veggies in it, to snack on. We made an attempt at playing Chess, neither of us truly knowing how, which suited me fine. A few other English teachers came in at this point. I saw one of them eyeing our game and I laughingly told him not to watch because we don't know what we're doing. Turns out he is Canadian named Patrick, and he ended up giving us a few helpful pointers anyway. We also met Carl and Christina, a cute and funny couple. Martha ultimately whooped me and in the spirit of trying new things, we next took a turn at the unoccupied pool table. I don't think I've touched one since I was 12. Thankfully there wasn't much of an audience but I didn't do half bad and won that round. Mr. Lee called us over to try something called "bear soup". There wasn't any bear meat involved but it did seem to have a lot of pepper. Once you got over your eyes watering like crazy, it was really tasty!

Tonight, Martha and I went back to the same park together but this time brought provisions. She made hotteok, a Korean pancake that has brown-sugary, cinnamon goodness in the center. We ate it next to the pond with the glowing dragon turtle ship. It was such a calm, cold night but cozy with hot chocolate to warm us up. I also bought a mug at the Starbucks on the corner, to continue my little collection/obsession.

Tomorrow we start a new class schedule since the winter break is over for the students. Curious to see how different it will all be. Here's to a new week!