Jim Jil Bangs, Thanksgiving, and Bukhansan

So, who thought getting naked and bathing in communal water could be so relaxing?! I went to a jim jil bang last Friday with the girls. There was naked people, food, steam rooms, massage chairs, and hot tubs. I know the bare asses and the potential STIs you can catch is what's going through your mind but it's not as bad as you think. I recommend this to anyone, even the squeamish. I felt extra clean afterwards, strangely. Drinking wine out of a plastic bottle helps.

Saturday was dedicated to Thanksgiving festivities. I had planned to go to Costco but never made it, so I made this Korean version of pasta salad, using very expensive olives that I found and these cheese nibblets instead of Feta cheese. It turned out better than I thought. Everyone was a fan of the cheese nibblets. Food. That's what Thanksgiving is really about. Smelled like home for just a few hours on Saturday night.

Sunday, I was actually sober enough to get up and make my way to Bukhansan National Park, where I climbed Dobongsan, one of the longer trails up that mountain. I didn't know that at the time but there are shorter trails. AND it was serious climbing at the top. I was literally climbing up rocks vertically at one point, rather than walking up a pathway. I was wondering why all these Koreans had on serious climbing gear and then I wished I had poles and hiking boots an hour into the climb. I SLID, not climbed, SLID all the back down the mountain for half an hour getting lost and as it was getting dark, our Korean saviour came out of nowhere and guided us home. He was a mountain sprite I'm convinced, I'm not sure anyone else could see him because no one else was following him, they all seem to stray off onto other trails. But it was already dark and I'm not sure why anyone would want to explore a dark mountain. Anyway, we got to the bottom half an hour later and made it back home. All I had to eat all day were wafers with hazelnut filling. Just in case you were wondering, you can climb a mountain on a wafer-filled stomach.

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