Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Climb Every Mountain..

If you look back to my blog entries one year ago, you will see pictures of an 80's party.  Last year, my friend Hayley celebrated her birthday with a nostalgic neon gala that basically the entire ESL teacher population of Seoul attended.  This year...we celebrated a bit different....

We climbed Seoraksan Mountain.  Much less low-key...and SO nice!  It was a fabulous weekend getaway of four ladies in their 20's enjoying nature, each others' company, and SERIOUSLY committing gluttony!  We figured we deserved it after our strenuous uphill hike to a cave on the side of the mountain - where we found a beautiful lady monk singing and playing various traditional instruments.

Big Buddah near the bottom of the mountain

Early on in the hike

About Mid-Hike

Lady Monk in the cave

Kimchi and makgeolli - the only way to end a hike in Korea :)


A 25-hour mart?  Only in Korea...


Our palace...HAHAHAH!  YES - we slept here...and NO, it's not a love motel.  The VHS tapes in the hall were real movies.


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

My First 5K!


Sooooo I joined a running group....not quite sure what it would entail but after realizing I've gained 15 lbs by doing nothing except sitting and eating, I thought I'd give it a go!  I ran my first 5K race with them on Easter Sunday!  I figured that at home, I would be waking up for early morning sunrise services anyway....might as well wake up with a healthy purpose here!

Races are a great place for people watching.  There are the serious runners...like the huge group of adjashis (older Korean men) that formed a stretching circle of the best leg muscles I've ever been in the presence of.  There are the families with lots of kids who take off for the first kilometer, constantly stepping on your ankles and toes before realizing that it takes a bit of endurance to run a race.  There are the newbies...like myself who struggle along huffing and puffing, cursing the world and every race ever created...then strutting around afterwards with huge smiles and boasting about running a whole 5K race (even though the adjashis ran a half marathon aka 13 miles!!!!).  One definitely could just come along to support a friend and enjoy the live entertainment :)

I actually enjoyed the whole experience...the atmosphere is fun as everyone is excited and ready to accomplish something...they give you free stuff such as bags, t-shirts, drinks, food, etc.... and there are ridiculously good-looking people promoting gym memberships.  All in all - not bad!  I'm thinking of doing a few more quite soon....two more in May!  May go for a 10-K eventually....then a half? hmm...we'll see! ;)

(and for those that REALLY need to know...it took me like 30 minutes to finish.....it was my first race!  Gimme a break!)

Pre-race with Hayley (her first 5K too!)


Post-race!!! YAY!


Hahahah....we wanted to pretend we placed ;)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Busy Week...


Wednesday April 1st - I saw Oasis!!!!!  Good concert!  "Slip inside the eye of your mind...don't you know you that you'll find a better place to play..."

Here's a video someone took close to where I was!


What I learned - Oasis was signed based on a cover of "I Am the Walrus."  (Hmm...wonder what people would think of a mix of Lucy in the Sky and Prudence? Eh, big brother???)


I hiked up the Namsan Tower...and was surprised what I found at the top...

Playing on the adjuma equipment!


A wire sculpture at Namsan Tower, which we quickly discovered is more like an amusement park than a hiking destination....


View from the top



Evidently these are true "locks of love."  You can purchase them at the top of the tower, and leave them with promises of love, friendship and other sorts of promises.  I'm considering going back up and leaving one...not sure what for exactly but might be a fun way to leave my mark in Seoul :)


Found these on the way back down in Itaewon...BWAHAHAHA :)