Suraksan and Children's Day





The fifth of May is Children's Day here in Korea. It's easy for me to remember because it's also a major national holiday in Mexico (El Cinco del Mayo). I went to climb Suraksan with a fellow teacher named Hidy and two of her friends. The mountain is in Namyangju and is not to be confused with the more famous Seoraksan that is in the western part of the peninsula. I met one of the friends earlier on the campus of Sahmyook University.

I took the bus from my home to Baengi and then changed to bus #1-1. I didn't know I was supposed to cross the street and go backwards for a short while and then go to where I was supposed to. I got off at the bank that I was told to meet her at, but it wasn't in the right place. Thankfully my cellphone was trustworthy. I hopped in a taxi and went to where I was supposed to be. Thankfully they weren't waiting for me too long.

The mountain was beautiful. There were wild azaleas that were pink and white. We mountain had nice rock formations and streams. There were some restaurants along the way. One part that we climbed had only niches in the rock and we held on to a metal railing. Later the mountain had some stairs built into it that were very steep. The view was beautiful.

Later we went to Hidy's house for lunch. We had some rice with spinach and a vegetable I have only seen in Korea. It reminds me slightly of rosemary, yet I don't know what it is. It was mixed together with tofu and sesame seed oil. It was very good.

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