Not your everday kind of day

So today started like every other, wake up and make my way to school for 8:30am. As I walk through the halls 100's of little Koreans try their newly acquired english on me "hello, how are you", I respond and they break into giggles. It is quite the funny routine though i have only been here for il ju(one week), the other teachers are losing their minds because some of them have been teaching for 6 years and apparently it loses its panache.

Reading, writing, reading, lunch, writing, drama, and then various activities. Today was science, so we mixed baking soda and vinegar in a film container and wait for it to explode. The kids loved it, especially Macdonald who was sent flying to the ground and scrunched up like a fetus in a womb. Aww so cute. So after that we filled a balloon with water and held it underneathe a candle. Magically the balloon didnt burst because the heat of the candle transfered through the balloon and began to heat the water slowly.

That was my last class of the day and getting off at 4 oclock left me a few hours before dark to go for a hike. Directly behind the school is a huge mountain, so i borrowed the schools camera and set out on my journey. Mom I told everyone where I was going, so that if i didnt come back they would know where I was, smart thinking ehhh.

My school in the background

So I begin my adventure and almost immediately spot my first temple structure at the base, looked pretty cool and I continued. There really wasnt a path so i made my own through the brush. It got so heavy that before i even started really, i was about to give up when i saw a little path. This path led a rubber plant, so I had to walk through it to get to the base of the mountain. As I am walking through the plant a guard comes up to me and i try to explain through hand gestures that i want to climb to the top of the mountain and take pictures from the top down. He gets another worker to come over and they kind of laugh saying its too hard but they allow me to walk through the factory to the back and they stare and watch as I swing myself up this little hill grabbing onto branches, and soon they dissappeared from my view.

Now this mountain wasnt anything too difficult to climb, not too steep and not too rocky, the only problem was that where i entered there was no path. So i figured up would be the best way to start, so i just start muscle-ing my way through more brush. About 15 minutes into it I question once again turning back because it was ridiculous, but I spotted this yellow cloth in the trees up ahead. I found a path atlast, it wasnt anything like clear cut, it was roughed out but it was perfect. So now with my new found confindence I start motoring up the mountain because i didnt want to get stuck in the dark.

As im climbing, this Korean deer noticed me and darted through the hills. I got within 10 feet of it, and I didnt even see at first I just heard it take off. I tried calling it in English but I forgot they only respond to Korean. So i keep on treking, higher and higher up until I see these rocks that looked like it could have been used as a home in the mountains like thousands of years ago, or atleast 50 or so before Korea got bombed to sh&t. I climb up onto some and look out... awwwwwww this is what I am I am here for. Just looking out and seeing nothing but more mountains all around was amazing, and actually i saw 2 golf courses that were right around the corner from the school I am teaching at. I take a few pics and keep climbing (ill fast forward to the to the top).

I finally got to the top and it was breathtaking, a 360 of nothing but mountains, and this little plaque at the top explaining the point on the earths axis and how high it was and a description i couldnt understand. I pose in some pictures, chill for a few and manage to catch it right near the sunset. So beautiful, I cant believe I am in Korea. So I begin my descent and take another path down because the one I came up i didnt know where the path started. So I start jumping down mountain swinging from branch to branch and eventually get off course. I can still see the town in the distance and know i am in the right direction so I kind of make my own path just zigzagging through trees.

This is where my hike comes to a twist. I see some tires in the hills and figure it was an entrance because i saw some signs near it. So as i get closer I see a manequin, I walk right next to it and see bullet holes all throughout. I was like what the #$!% and turn around and see a lookout tower with some people on it. I cant believe it, I walked onto a Korean military obstacle course in the hills. So im started to get a little freaked out and hoping that the guy didnt see me and think I was a spy. So run back into the bush on an angle. As im running, I notice bunkers dug in the ground for shooting, tires built into ruts for running up hills, and more target practice.

At this point my leg begins to shake, but I try stay calm because I want the hell out of here. So I actually begin to walk through the course on the other side because it was the only clear way down, and I see this sign.



There is pedastals for people to stand on take commands, ropes to climb up and other obstacles. I managed to get a couple pictures, but wanted to keep my camera in my bag most of the time. I duck back into the bush and run away until i come to someones property, where i see a paved road leading down the hill. I get onto the street, and this dog starts barking at me and chasing me away, but it was one of the greatest sights I had seen in my life. I continue down the street and it took me back to the main street and I walked back to the school, to tell them off my experience, and upload the pictures onto my computer.

I leave the school, walk home, and then end up just going for some mandu(dumplings) for dinner at this restaurant i have been to before. They begin some conversation with me, and tell me i am beautiful. I laugh and shake it off, and explain to them in my broken Korean that im from Canada and that ive been here for a week now, and that i cant speak Korean well. Extremely nice people, and they actually gave me more dumplings than the order says it comes with.

I walked back to my motel with a comfortable and familiar feeling to end my hectic and danger filled day.

Heres to the mom and pops, I got my misadventure out of the way. Its all uphill from here!