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Published: September 26th 2010
Chuseok, "The Korean Thanksgiving", is an especially wonderful holiday because us teachers get the week off and some of us get exciting gifts like Spam, toothpaste, and corn. Maria gave me a box of songpyeon and corn, which was sweet and she helped me write out the directions in Hangul for getting to Sokcho. Sometimes when I attempt speaking Korean, people still don't know what I am saying so having it written out can be incredibly useful. I had decided to go to Sokcho to see Mary Rosenberry, a fellow Placervillian. Sokcho is farther north by the sea and surrounded by massive mountains, most famously Mt. Seorakson. The bus ride from Daejeon took 4 hours and was non-stop. Oh fantastic, non-stop, but wait I have to pee! That was an uncomfortable bus ride. Adding to the awkward fact of a full bladder was the poor choice of sitting in the middle backseat of the bus with Korean men on either side of me. Slowly, thier slumbering heads kept falling onto my shoulder and then they would wake up and shift away, yet soon enough they would be back. Luckily, the scenery on the way to Sokcho was breathtaking! I was in
awe of the dark green mountains that towered into the fog and the frigid shallow river that tumbled over gray rocks. We kept passing signs for beaches, spas, and hiking and I was getting so excited but then the sky split open and it started to POUR. The bus was careening around corners and speeding through puddles while I wondered how much hiking we would be getting done.
We pulled into the bus station at Sokcho and I ran into the bathroom straight away only to find there was no toliets. Only the squat kind. Damnit, I thought I could avoid them but I had no choice. The stall was tiny so all my bags were practically in the toliet as I tried not to pee on the floor. It was charming. I then lugged my bags outside to find Mary but turns out I would be taking a taxi to her apartment. Not suprising that the apartments in Sokcho look EXACTLY the same as the ones I live in. Koreans aren't know for thier architecture. I came up to Mary's appartment and was floored by how fantastic it was! Spacious, decorated, with its own dryer AND cold and
hot water cooler. Hmmm living by the sea in a cool city with a nice place, tell me again why I didn't choose Sokcho? Oh that's right, I hate the cold. Not that it matters because it will surely snow in Guemsan. Blast!
It was so exciting to see Rosenberry in the flesh after messaging back and forth for ages (mostly me asking questions about Korea and fretting about the deodorant supply. I guess its a myth, they do have some) Her friend Shaquita (probably just mucked that up royally) was there as well and she was extremely friendly and Mary is lucky to be working with her at the same school. Mary works at a high school and Shaquita works at the middle school but they are connected in the same hallway. I would kill to have someone I could talk to between classes and go to lunch with (Margo, we need to figure out how to escape and do that) but then again I would probably get no work done whatsoever.
After drinking what the ladies called a "smurf", soju and blue powerade, we headed out into the night to find some dinner. Mary was on
a mission to get some sushi and I was all for it, but alas the place had closed down! So we found a Korean joint and sat at a table where we pressed the buzzer for the waitresses attention. We ordered some food and I saw something that looked very much like American pizza and insisted on getting it. It arrived and looked cheesy and oh so good. Mary is "vegeterian" so she asked if there was any meat on it. Shaquita said "It tastes like there is some meat on this Mary" and as I bit in I realized there wasn't just meat ON IT, the whole base of the pizza was MEAT. No bread, just MEAT. I eat my fair share of meat in Korea, but this was just too much. It was rather revolting and we ended up not eating it and I just scraped the cheese off the top. A sad experience. I mean who thought that was a good idea? "Let's just get a big hunk of meat, cover it in cheese and call it pizza!'. Sick, just sick.
Next off to a western bar with a hot Korean owner who looked like he
was going to go fishing down at the beach. His English was impecable and so were his looks I must say. I got an Irish coffee and we sat and chatted for awhile, until some of Marys friends came in and started a card game of Asshole. I got really competitive but then I kept becoming the Asshole (loser) of the game and it was sad. But I enjoyed the game and maybe if my reflexes weren't so crap I could be better at it. We came back to Mary's and Shaquita decided we should watch House, which I would never think to be a great "back home from drinking show" but I got into it. Who doesn't love bitter middle aged doctors with pretty eyes?
In the morning, we woke up to gray skies but no rain so it was time to hike! On our way to the bus to Seoraksan, we walked along the beach by Marys place. The ocean looked as cold as ice, but it was lovely especially with all the fish and dolphins statues dotting the shore. There is a sweet little "wharf" if you will, that had a bronze tree with heart leaves
and then two red rusty hearts next to it where lovers come to visit. It seems like a lot of things in Korea are set up for couples. There was also a big shell chair that you could sit in. I wanted it so I could pretend to be Ariel but the thing was just too heavy...
Near the beach there was an outdoor exercise station, one of my favorite things about Korea. I went to the one by my house yesterday and the place was crawling with elderly Koreans, stretching, jumping, and doing sit ups. Out of this world. I've decided everything is better in Sokcho because they just one-up Guemsan constantly. First of all, they sell 2,000 won wine?? Never seen the likes of that! The apartments are cooler, they have an E-mart, there is the OCEAN, bigger mountains, and even food I had never seen. Plus they have the weighted hula hoops. If hula hooping was a sport, you bet your ass I would be on the Olympic team. I LOVE HULA HOOPING. These workout hula hoops are gigantic and heavy, so it takes some work but they are pretty fun. We also did the rad
exercise machine that is like you are on a surfboard/snowboard and the gazelle machine which is like being on a nordic trak or something. We were acting like little kids because even though I work out on those things, its like a big playground. The Koreans were staring at us like we were mad and I suppose we are. But being mad is just much too fun.
We got on the bus to Seoraksan National Park and it was crowded with waygooks (foreigners). It seems many people decided to spend thier Chuseok in Sokcho. Mary and I spent the bus ride trying to guess where this old man was from. I decided on Cuba but it could have been Eastern Europe. His accent was all over the place. The bus ride was moving like molassess because of all the cars and people trying to get into the park. It was chaos, Mary was going insane, and we thought we should just get off the bus and walk. When we finally got off, I realized I was freezing in my hobo attire but we marched on to gather warmth. There was little stores everywhere selling trinkets and souvenirs and lots
of cafes. Seoraksan is more than one trail so we decided to take the trail that was a bit off the main path and went to a waterfall. It was overcast and dark under the canopy of the trees and we passed a big pile of stones where Mary and I both placed our own stone and made a wish. The hike wasn't too hard and we went over a few bridges and up man-made stairs of wood and stone. Then it was onto metal stairs that crossed over the lower parts of the waterfall. We reached the top where the main waterfall was and very ungracefully made our way across slippery rocks to where Koreans were sitting and taking pictures of the cold water spilling down. There was a group of 4 Koreans standing in front of me who were all taking pictures and video with thier phones in different directions. It was unreal. You can't escape too much into nature with todays technology. Everyone was sitting around eating corn and nuts. Some people were throwing food at the chipmunks (smart, you idiots). I was eating a mutant apple Mary had given me when the MONSTER BEE started buzzing
around my arm. I started whimpering and moving away but it just kept buzzing around my head. A Korean woman next to me noticed my freak-out and said "DANGER DANGER GET AWAY!". Well this about gave me a heart attack. I assumed now that this bee was a specific type of Korean bee that could give you a seizure or maybe even a stroke. Who knows, Korea is crazy! So both Mary and I took heed and started scrambling down the rocks until the lady said "Apple, Apple!". Aha, so its after my apple ay? Now many Koreans were pointing and laughing and saying "Apple!". Ok I get it guys, but what do you want me to do with this thing? So I carried it and the bee with me until no one could see and the apple was history.
After the waterfall hike we went to see the huge sitting Buddah. It was gorgeous and there was a whole section where you could bow and light a candle with something written on it. Many people just bowed standing. It was an impressive sight espeically with the big jewel in the center of its forehead. At the bottom of
the stairs there was black shingle like plates that people could buy and write something, usually about love, travel, peace, and happiness, and when things need repairs at the temple they use these plates. It was cool reading the ones in English that were mostly from Singapore and Indonesia. I didn't see any from the States. We then hiked up to a temple that has been carved into rock, I believe around 650 AD??. That might be off, but just understand that it is OLD. The temple was lovely and the inside was totally unbelievable and serene. There is also a big rock teetering on the edge of a boulder. It is said it cannot be pushed over, no matter what. I'm not sure if this is supposed to symbolize something, but all the tourists take pictures with it. They had past photos up near it and it was neat to see the photos from over the years and different seasons. I'm sad I can't see Seoraksan in Autumn with the changing colors of the leaves.
I bought some postcards for my co-teachers and we got back on the bus where this douche of a waygook was traveling with
all girls, who were obviously very new. He was teaching them numbers in Hangul and seemed to think he was thee shit. He then started saying "Oh yeah so when we get back I think I'm going to take a dip in the ocean, who's coming with me? The waves are really strong, I mean I don't know if you have ever experienced that much power, but it's really amazing". Cool dude, it's beyond freezing out and you want to take a "dip?" Trying to impress the laydees ay? Although the ladies didn't seem too impressed...
The next day Mary and I hiked near her appt up into the hills which were a mixture of forest and jungle and had a sweet makeshift workout area where you could lift logs like you were training to be in the movie Rocky. Afterwards, a trip to E MART for wine, cheese, and bread and we had a European lunch by the sea. THE GLORIOUS SUN was out and it was wonderful. I posed with our South African wine and a SA couple started talking to us about how happy they are to find SA wine here and they hoped we enjoyed it. They said they had been looking at our meal and thought maybe they should have gone down that road but instead ordered Korean food. They had about 6 plates of food brought out to them and they offered to share but we were too full of cheese and bread. We walked down to the beach and put our toes in the water, which was less cold than I expected. Grown men were squealing and running up to the waters edge, then running away when the water came rushing forth. People were swimming in tshirts and jeans. Suprising actually because Koreans do not swim. I am still trying to understand what that stems from...
That night Mary and I went on a youtube binge and she showed me crazy animal videos of hawks dragging mountain goats off cliffs and a tiger attack in India. We watched some Kpop and Glee and it was a great television time 😊
T
he next day I was back on the bus to Guemsan....and here I am.
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Mary
non-member comment
huge hula hoops!
Wow, the weighted hula hoops look fun!! There is actually a hula hoop class here in town, but way to go South Korea to have them available in the park!! The coast looks beautiful and I'm thrilled to hear you got some wonderful hiking in!! I didn't realize there were so many lush mountain and beautiful coastal areas near you!! If I go swimming in the ocean will I be the only one!! I hope I get to visit you!!