Mountain weekend highlights

Yesterday we got back from a weekend at Songnisan - a famous mountain city in Korea. The name means break from mundane chores, And it was a really nice break after a long 4 days of class. Some highlights in no particular order:

1. Seeing a buddhism religious service at a temple. I had never seen one before so I enjoyed the chance to meditate and reflect on being in Korea. The temple had a really tall standing buddha. As the sun was setting monks began to chant and then started drumming and ringing a huge bell. It was a nice atmosphere and I realized it would be nice to know more about buddhism because I know very little right now.

2. Not getting up at 3am! There was another monk service at 3 am for which some people woke up/stayed up. I didn't need to do that. But it's interesting to consider that the monks do that every day.

3. Western breakfasts. We had to sleep on little blankets on the floor at the hotel (it's a Korean tradition!) but the breakfasts had western food like eggs and sausage and bacon. I love food, so this makes the highlight reel. I ate a lot.

4. Climbing a mountain. Saturday some friends and I set out to climb the mountain in the park. The trails were steep at times and I didn't have on hiking shoes. The climb up took about 3 hours. Liezl, Sravan, Forest and I were sweat-soaked and bug-bitten but glad to be on top and able to enjoy a misty view of the mountains and valleys around us.

5. A lot of hardcore climbers from a Korean "Climbing mania club" passed us on the way down, practically running down the mountain.

6. Drinking fresh mountain stream water. I've been used to not drinking tap water here, so being able to drink from a mountain stream while hiking was great. I felt really at home with nature.

7. Beef is expensive. The waitress at the restaurant four of us went to had to call her english speaking friend on her cell phone because she wasn't sure what we were ordering. We ordered a beef dish, which was good, but cost $60! I think I'll get chicken next time. I was also dreaming of going to an Outback steakhouse in Seoul, but I'm rethinking that.

So life is busy here... the food is still... okay. This week we have teaching workshops, which is good because soon enough we'll actually be teaching english!