Hiking in Korea (My first hiking adventure)



Posing for a pisture with my Principal




Beautiful

 Friends!  Two more posts to go and you are all caught up.  In Korean time I have less than twelve hours to accomplish this before it is officially 2011.  Wow, time sure can sneak up on you.  As the leaves were in their full mode of change illuminating beautiful colors of red, orange and browns my school Principal decided it was time for a teacher outing.  Turns out once every month the Principal takes all the teacher out on some kind of activity and then dinner is followed at a traditional Korean restaraunt (sitting on the floor and the menu includes traditional dishes and sides).  For October the outing would be a hiking trip.  I was pretty excited because I had been wanting to go hiking.  I had even set out to climb the mountain in view from my window and failed because it was merely an illusion of being closer than it truly was. 



Soo modeling a seed that is
said if eated brings good dental health. 
I did try it! ???

 Regardless the time had come; I would get to climb a mountain.  Watch out!  Hiking is very serious here and the franchise of hiking merchandise is booming.  You will not take a trip hiking and not see at least one person with boots, hiking jackets, packs and walking sticks.  So, I of course thought, Wooh hoo I am climbing a mountain, ready to be in shape I am and see what these muscles can do.  I actually thought it would be pretty strenuous.  Well as Yoda would say, Wrong you were, were you?  Yes.  Wrong I was.
Totally, not strenuous at all.  Still worth the time, due to the beautiful sites of nature.  There were many different types of trees including my all time favorite (weeping willows).  I have accustomed a favorite tree here in Korea, the Gingko Tree.  They are beautiful in the fall; takes a little of your breath as your eye is caught by the dark bark and yellow leaves that seem to dangle like earrings.  Any who, we had a guide that took us on an hour long hike (of course it was in Korean but easy to follow).  After the hike the Principal took us to a restaraunt that served us duck and a very strange seafood platter.  It was here I tried duck and some king of intestines for the first time.  Don't be grossed out, it was an adventure, and this is the adventures of Kate, right?  It was random I tried the duck considering I don't really eat meat.  Not a fan but I tried it : 0 ).  The intestines accidentally happened and I could barely keep them down, that was disgusting.  Still the experience was worth the trial to my taste buds and mental toughness.  I am living in Korea and do not want to miss out on fellowship with the people here or experiencing new things. 


Here in Korea it is traditin to serve
at least three or four side dishes with every meal.  here we have,
 spicy (SPICY) crab legs (really hard to eat w/chopsticks),
Kimchi (2 kinds), seaweed, and raddish


Ok, about time to wrap this up.  A few things I learned from this adventure:
1.  Hiking is not as fierce as I thought (well, at least not in this situation)
2.  There is a tree that you plant if you want your children to be scholars
3.  The smell of duck stays on your clothes until the next day at least.
4.  I do not enjoy all seafood
5.  There are weird seafood options served here in Korea with sprouts, intestines and little things that look like oyster but just disperse liquid into your mouth that tastes awful then you spit the chewy part out.
6.  Sitting on the floor is awesome but your feet fall asleep fast!

Check back later to catch up on my last two posts of the year!  <3