Work at the new school

I haven't begun formal work at the high school yet. I will start that on Monday. Today I knew that I would have to be at English Sabbath School at the school at 9:00 am. I didn't think anything bad of that. I knew already that I would be expected to help out there. I arrived a little bit early so I could find where the place was. It was in a classroom. Harry, a man from England, conducted the lesson. He said he had met me before, but I couldn't remember him. We had met a few years when I worked in Korea the first time. I then had to go to the chapel for the sermon held by the campus chaplain. Everything was in Korean, and my co-worker did some loose translating for me. Afterwards, I went to the staff room for a Bible lesson that was conducted entirely in Korean. He also did some translating. I felt perturbed. I knew about having to go to English sabbath school and that didn't bother me. I agreed to it. I was thinking of going to the English church at Sahmyook University afterwards. I didn't know that I would be expected to sit through a Korean service and then a Korean Bible study. I am not happy about that. I have made friends at the SYU church and I like hearing a sermon in my native tongue. I want to try to fight it, but I will have to accept if it they make me sit through it all the time.
I later went to the church at SYU because there was going to be a fellowship dinner. I also borrowed a suitcase from some friends from Australia. I wanted to return it, yet I didn't see them there. I left it with someone else. It wasn't a big deal to lug around since it was empty.
During dinner I saw with a couple. The man is a Zulu from South Africa and the wife is Korean. They just had a baby girl named Nicole Hwang-hee. Today was the first time I saw her. She was beautiful. I loved her wavy black hair. I had wondered what she would look like, since her father is very dark and her mother very light. She has tan skin. I am sure she will be a very adorable toddler when she has a full head of her nice wavy hair.
I later went home and took a nap. At 7:00 pm I went outside and took a walk up my narrow street. I then noticed a pathway. I decided to follow it and met with the campus chaplain and his wife. They were just leaving. The pastor said that there was a spring up there. I followed the pathway for a while, yet I didn't find a spring. I turned around because it was getting dark and the mosquitoes were out.

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.

Namhansanseong

Today I went out to Namhansanseong (South Korean Mountain Fortress) for hiking. I went by myself. I had never gone hiking by myself before.
I found a nice barefoot park. I tried it for a short time. It felt strange, yet I'd try it again.





I found a beautiful Buddhist temple. I went inside and took pictures. I waited until two worshippers had left so I wouldn't be rude to them.






It was a nice walk up there. I liked all the streams I saw and small waterfalls.


The top!



The walk along the wall.



The note in the tree says something...



Another gate. Yes, that's some snow on the ground to the left. That was the only big patch of snow I saw. I saw some trace amounts of frost around the gate at the top.


The sunset I came for!

Hiking in Korea

I love hiking. It is among my favourite things to do. Hiking is very popular in Korea since there are many mountains that are easily accessable. During the nice weather the Seoul subways and buses are filled with people in hiking gear taking the train to their destination. The last time I was in Korea I did some hiking, but not as much as I wished. I went to Namhansanseong (Nam-han-san-sung, and it means "south korean mountain fortress) which is on Line 8. The sunsets from the top are breathtaking. I also went to Bukhansanseong (north korean mountain fortress) as well. If I have it my way, I will climb every major mountain in this country before I am ever through with it. I'll see how much I can get done.
There is a term called "peak bagging" when hikers have a list of mountains to climb and they try to get as many of those peaks climbed as possible. There are special regional clubs just for that. In my area of the USA there is a list of "Four Thousand Footers" (imperial) in the New England area. There is also the Adirondack Forty-Sixers in New York state and many other peak-bagging lists around the world. For an unofficial peak-bagging list for South Korea I have:
1. Seoraksan
2. Hallasan
3. Bukhansan (I only made it halfway because it was getting dark)
4. Suraksan
5. Dobongsan
6. Jirisan
7. Seonunsa
8. Buramsan (that should be easy to do)
9. Manisan
10.Odaesan

I found out about Hwanseon Cave in Gangwon-do. It is in Samchok. I am interested in going there.