A Little Taste of Home

There are many things about being so far away that make one miss home, but the holidays are a surefire place to look.  So it made life a little bit easier when a group of us were able to celebrate Thanksgiving right.

That's right we had turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, mixed vegetables, stuffing and pumpkin pie (not in the photo).  Wow, was that a treat.  And it was all made possible by a private restaurant on a nearby U.S. military base. 

And thanks to our gracious hosts, Brian and Whitney, who welcomed us over, picked up the food and organized everything, we had a fantastic Thanksgiving meal.

Latern Festival and 11/11

It's been a busy week yet again.  I played basketball with students after school Monday and tonight (Thur.), Tuesday night I went to Seoul for the second Seoul Lantern Festival (see AnsanAnswers.com for a great video on the festival), and Wednesday it was off to Ansan for a weekly dinner with friends. Plus today was 11/11, and in Korea that's meaningful.

First, the lantern festival.  Lotus lanterns have a traditional role in Korean culture thanks to Buddhism.  But this festival, which this year coincided with the G20 Summit being held in Seoul, celebrates many different aspects of Korean culture through lanterns of many shapes and sizes.  And with the G20 in town, lanterns representing different countries of the world dotted the beautiful Cheonggyecheon Stream.

Thursday also was an interesting day as it was 11/11, which in Korea means a celebration almost like Valentine's Day (which they also celebrate) sweeps the country.  It's called Pepero Day after the thin wafer stick dipped in chocolate of the same name.  Lotte, the company that began manufacturing pepero in 1983, denies that it's behind the holiday, but it's official origins are unknown.

Different varieties of pepero, with the traditional on the right.

Regardless, every year on 11/11 people, mostly students, other young people and couples, exchange pepero sticks, other candies and small gifts.  Promptly at 8 a.m. this morning I had a student give me my first box of pepero for the day.  But I came well prepared myself (thanks to my friends at AnsanAnswers for tipping me off) with a variety box of pepero.  I let each of the teachers in my office pick what kind they wanted, and I still had more than enough to dole out as treats for students throughout the day.  And I received and ate more than my fair share.  Thankfully a box is less than 150 calories!  Still, I don't want to know how many calories I showed down in chocolate sticks today!

Overall, it seems like the type of contrived holiday, think Sweetest Day, that back home I abhor, but it was fun to experience it once, especially when the students are so excited to give me a gift.

I can't imagine what next year, 11/11/11, will be like!

Seoraksan

I made the pilgrimage this weekend that every visitor to Korea is required to make.  I traveled to Seoraksan, which means Snow Peak Mountain, and conquered two of its famous peaks with a travel group from Adventure Korea.

Seoraksan, located in the northeastern corner of South Korea, is not only one of South Korea's top natural tourist attractions, but the national park contains the third highest peak in the country.  It's especially popular in the fall because it's supposedly one of the top places in the country to catch a fantastic display of fall colors.

Unfortunately, maybe fortunately for my aching calves, we were unable to climb the 1,708 meters (5,603 feet) to the highest peak because we didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon.  But we still climbed the famous Ulsanbawi, which is over 800 meters high and boasts a steep finish.  Ulsanbawi contains six granite peaks and on clear days you can see all the way to the East Sea.

It was a quite foggy when we arrived, but it cleared up nicely, although not enough to catch a view of the East Sea.  Still it was spectacular, and as advertised, it was packed, especially as we got to the steep stairs near the peak.  And that actually made the hike, although quite steep at times, not that difficult because we had lots of rest on the stairs.

All the waiting was well worth it.  The view from the top was spectacular.

My friend Alex at the top.  (I borrowed this photo from Marc.)

After working our way back down, and having an interesting conversation with a student from Kazakhstan, we got back on the bus and made the hour journey to our hotel.  After dinner many of us hit up the natural Osaek Hot Springs that were harnessed and pumped into a hotel near ours.  It was heavenly and just what I needed after a long hike.

Although it was my first Korean spa experience, and it is quite something if you're not used to it.  Koreans, unlike Americans, don't think anything of nudity amongst people of the same gender.  So first you have to get over an uneasiness of walking around naked, but once you get in the spa you almost forget about the fact you're wearing nothing but your birthday suit!

The next day a small portion of the 130 people on our trip got up early and hit the trail at 8 a.m.  We hopped on the bus and rode to the other side of the mountain to hike up and over and back to the hotel.  Starting on the opposite side was the best decision we could have ever made.  We had the mountain to ourselves almost the whole way up.  One of the valleys on the course, the Heulimgol Valley, was closed to the public for 20 years to allow nature to repair it after severe flooding.  The canyons were beautiful and the water running through them serene.

After reaching the summit (1014 meters), we worked our way down and ran into a number of waterfalls including Yeongso Falls.

Me at the top.

Yeongso Falls

Then it was back from lunch and the long trip home.  If you like hiking and nature this trip is one I'd definitely recommend.  In fact, I'll probably go back in the spring to check out the rushing water from the snow melt.

My hagwon experience

Last night I tagged along with one of my students to his hagwon, or private school.  Ki Heon talks to me probably as much or more than any other student, and when I found out he wanted to be a chef I was really intrigued.  When I found out he was actively pursuing that dream already I was impressed.

Fast forward to Monday night.  I'm on the train heading to Ansan to go to "school" with him.  He gave me a tour of the school, which is a specialty school for hotel and restaurant management.  Then we settled in for class.  On this particular night the students were learning how to make Spanish omelettes and beef stew.  First the teacher gave a demonstration.

As she was finishing up, I could tell the discussion turned to me based on a few key words.  If that didn't tip me off, the students all turning and looking at my grinning face sure gave it away.  But it was good; I got to eat the omelette.  It was delicious, although I would have upped the spice a bit.  The eggs were incredibly pillowy (I don't care if that's not a word).

Then it was time for the students to get to work.  It was quite impressive with the skill some of them already possessed.  As they worked away, I wandered around and took it all in.

Ki Heon working on his beef stew.

A student multi-tasking.  His omelette looked very professional.

All in all, it was a good night.  And it was interesting to see students outside of high school.  Although it was just like my first day of school in Korea, as everyone wanted to know who I was, where I was from, what my name was, how old I am...

But when it all comes down to it, who can complain about free food, especially when it's so good.