Happy Birthday Buddha

This weekend was the weekend of Buddha's Birthday... which means LONG WEEKEND! A lot of people end up doing fun trips during this time off, and I was no exception. A few friends, Adrienne, Ashley, Malia and Keller, and I decided to sign up for an organized trip and go up to the northern part of South Korea to a famous National Park, Seoraksan National Park, for some hiking and adventure.

Photo credit

Our weekend started off on Friday morning with a grueling 5.5 hour bus ride. Man it was rough. And once we got to our destination, the weather had turned cold and gloomy, so our fun night at the beach turned into a stroll on the beach, just to be able to say we were "at the beach", a few token pictures, then we headed to dinner. Our night wasn't too glamorous or anything, but the next day was when the fun would begin.

Saturday morning we headed out to the park where we would spend the day hiking. Our group stayed together for the entire day, but we passed by and met up with other people along the way... there really isn't way to miss 100 waygooks in one park.

 My group started off by heading to buy tickets for the cable car up to the top of the mountain for later in the day (we had heard they sell out and we didn't want to miss it), then headed on the 1 hour, easy hike to one of the waterfalls. It was such a BEAUTIFUL hike, however there wasn't much challenge. It was mostly along pathways and bridges, but once we got to the waterfall we didn't regret it. We spent some time climbing around on the rocks, trying to find places to sit with our toes in the freezing water, and a few people even jumped in (even though there were signs that said no swimming- when in doubt, you can always pull the foreigner card).

We then set off to go back to the large Buddha statue and the temple. The Buddha was huge and fun to see, however when we arrived at the temple, we were really disappointed. We had heard that there are usually many many lanterns hanging, along with other decorations, at temples for the weekend of Buddha's birthday, but there was NOTHING here! We couldn't believe it! We finally spotted a few lanterns, but they were inside the temple, and we didn't know if we were allowed to take pictures of inside, so we looked for a bit, then headed back out.

We were going to try to hike up to one of the tallest peaks in Seoraksan, however  we didn't think we had enough time, so we grabbed a few snacks and found some rocks near a stream bed to relax on while we killed some time. It was actually really fun, soaking in the sun and just talking with friends. Adrienne, Keller and I decided to do a little rock hopping as well...

We then headed back to the cable car where we were taken to the top of one of the mountains. We didn't realize that, once you got up to the top, you could hike up one of the other peaks... and that you had to use a rope to climb up and down... It was actually pretty dangerous when you think about it, but it was totally worth it once at the top... the view was unbelievable... It was relaxing to me, but pretty funny to watch some of the other people freak out about the height (no offense, really, it was just funny, but I realize that there was reason behind the fear)...

That night, it started raining, so we decided we would get chicken delivered to the hotel and play drinking games. The night was hilarious, and ended up in a 15 minute session at a noraebang, before we were kicked out (they said they were "closing").

The next morning we set off, but took a pit stop at the steepest zip-line in Korea. We first got to walk on a "Sky Walk", which is essentially a glass platform off the edge of a cliff, but it provided a really nice view. We then went up to the zipline, which was awesome fun... not like any of the ziplines I've done before though. With this one, you sit in a seat that is attached to 1 of 4 cables, and you zip with 3 other friends at your side before being stopped by a large spring at the end... it was really fun, but I definitely miss zipline "courses".

It was a great weekend with a great group... We will definitely have to head back out again soon...

Sports Day

When I think of “sports day”, I think of PE from back home. Things like relays, tug of war, dodge ball, waffle ball and maybe even a three legged race. When I found out that my school would be having a “sports day” where all of the teachers, first graders (freshmen) and second graders (sophomores) would be skipping classes for a day out on the “playground”, I figured these would be the types of games I would run into. I even got excited about the possibility of a game of soccer, baseball, volleyball or maybe basketball, but most definitely badminton, because that’s all they ever talk about here. But man was I wrong.

Yoomie (a nickname that means 'cute'), Mrs. Shin and Olivia (my handler)

The teachers let me know to wear “athletic clothes”. So I stroll in with my yoga pants and a Tshirt, only to find all the other female teachers in their normal, skinny teal jeans and cute tops. Go figure. Oh well, this was a day outside of the classroom, I was pumped. But the students definitely brought it. All of the girls classes had matching outfits (boys will be boys). They were lined up around the edge of the field with tents and chairs for each class. They had clappers, posters and full blown cheers. Awesomeness.

The day started with all of the students bringing carnations to the teachers because it was also “Teacher’s Day”. So cute.  After that, the fun began.

I wasn’t disappointed. I definitely got to witness a fair share of awesome PE-style games, just not the games I was used to. Yes, there were races and relays. My favorite was when 2-1 (second grade, class 1, boys) took their sweet time and let the student that is in a motorized wheelchair finish the last leg of the race, and the entire class joined him, carried a flag proudly, and just before the finish line, he stopped, turned the wheelchair around and finished going backwards. What an awesome morale.

There was also tug of war. But this was tug of war on steroids. There was not one, but THREE ropes. Two teams lined up at either end of the field then had to race to the three ropes. I’m not exactly clear on the rules, but you needed to have 2 ropes on your side to win. So if one rope was “lost” students would abandon the rope and then move to another rope in hope of winning it. It was craziness. I still don’t know how you know when to abandon your rope and how to choose which other rope to go to.

Then there was this game where the entire class would line up, 2 by 2, and two students had a rope in the front. They would drag the rope under the line of students while they had to jump over the rope, then the students with the rope had to round a cone at the other end of the field, then run back to the front, running while the rope was passing over the lined up students’ heads. Then they would pass the rope to the next pair of students and they had to repeat the process  until all pairs of students had been the one running with the rope. It might not sound that difficult, but this was just plain dangerous. I saw MANY students face-plant because they didn’t jump in time and their feet got caught in the rope. And several students got clothes lined from the back by the rope because they stood up too fast. If I never have to see another student get nearly decapitated again I’ll be happy (but it was a little funny sometimes).

And instead of 3 legged races, they had 10 legged races where 5 students were tied together at their ankles. They had to race across the field, go around a cone, then come back to the start, where they passed the relay stick off to the second half of the team. It was so cute to see some teams just try to run their hearts out (and promptly fall all over one another), while others had it together and were using rhythm and chants to keep pace.

Just before they all went tumbling to the ground

They also did jump rope, individual and team. Individual is pretty self explanatory, but the team jump rope was on a whole different level. They would have 2 people turning the rope while the rest of the students had to take a running leap into the rope and then jump out. They had this DOWN! They would make a large circle around the rope and just continually jump in and out. Talent and patience I tell you.

Then came the one teachers’ event. We (and I say WE because yes, I had to compete) had a “toy shoe relay”. We had large, foam, flip flop looking things you had to stand on and ropes that you held onto to lift the shoe when you walked. My team let me go first (not sure if this was a good thing, so I wouldn’t over think it too much, or a bad thing because I really didn’t know if I was doing it correctly), but it ended up being good in the end. I kicked ass. I ended up with a large lead from the rest of the teams, though my team didn’t end up winning in the end. Too bad. It was still fun.

My principal dancing 

Teachers, Principal and Vice Principal danced... students were excited

“Sports day” ended up going above and beyond my expectations. And while most of my pictures are gone from the event (my external broke), the memories will always be there. I can’t wait until next year!!!