The Hike and the Meal (2002)

Well, I don’t know how the weather is back home, but we’ve been inundated with rain over here.  It’s been pouring non-stop for 10 days, with no end in sight. Apparently the flooding in Seoul has shut down parts of the city, and here in Busan there’s been close to a dozen deaths related to the rain.  There are a lot of homeless people that live in the mountains surrounding the city and I guess there’s been mud-slides and the like.  It’s pretty crazy!  As for me, well, the rain is a real downer, but I’m not in any kind of perilous situation.  The city is on the coast and flooding is not a likely scenario.  All the water simply flows back into the ocean.  However, all this wetness is becoming a supreme downer.  For almost two weeks it was ridiculously hot and humid, now it’s chilly and wet!  First was rainy season, that’s July, including a monsoon and rain periodically for three weeks.  Then it was hot for two weeks, and now rain again.  I’m definitely looking forward to the fall!  I think I mentioned earlier that the winter’s here are dry and cool.  It’ll be a nice change from this craziness, that’s for sure.

I had a small holiday last week, but I wasn’t able to do much because of the weather, and the fact that it occurred one week before I received my first pay cheque. The short break I just had was still a nice break from the kids. Sometimes it’s really hard teaching children.  I couldn’t imagine what a bigger classroom would be like.  Seven kids seems like a lot at times.  I was told that they’re on summer break.  That, coupled with the weather which has kept them indoors, has created a hyper bunch of kids.  It’ll be good when their regular classes start up again and they come into my class a little worn out.  They whine more because they’re tired, but it’s still easier to handle than bottled up energy.  The fact that I’m the “funny looking foreigner”, and they can’t understand half off what I’m saying to them, makes it twice as hard to keep them in line. My co-worker Greg says you never fully get used to it, so I’m resigning myself to the daily grind. 

I’ve managed to keep myself entertained on the weekends by going out.  I saw a really good blues band, with an amazing saxophone player and keyboardist, the other night.  It was a great show! Seeing live music, checking out some of the local sites and seeing a movie once a week has so far been the bulk of my entertainment. It’s hard making friends, but I’ll just have to give it time.  It’s hard because 99% of Koreans don’t speak English. Them’s the breaks, as they say!  I’ll get by.  I always do.

I thought I’d talk a little about a trip that we, that’s my co-workers and boss, took a few weeks ago when the weather was nicer.  Emily rented a van and drove the lot of us outside of Busan for a hike in the mountains.  Very cool!  The city of Busan is nestled around mountains, so it’s spread out.  This makes getting out of the city a difficult proposition.  It was a nice day, slightly overcast but warm and not too humid.  We drove for about 45 min. to get out of the city limits.  The countryside was filled with rice paddies, and small farms that harvest the rice alongside them. We had to navigate narrow, twisting streets through tiny villages as we made our way up the mountain.  Slowly, the terrain became more rugged, the road steadily growing steeper and steeper. Finally driving was no longer an option.  There was still plenty of road, but the transmission in the van sounded like it was getting ready to blow some gaskets, if you know what I mean!  We continued upwards on foot.  Apparently our destination was a waterfall nestled in the mountain we were ascending. The climbing was by no means treacherous and fraught with pitfalls; however, it was so steep at times that walking became an incredible strain.

Eventually, we made it to the end of the road and the beginning of the path.  Situated at this point was the Korean equivalent of the roadside diner.  Essentially, a couple of chairs and tables set out under a tarp with a barbeque, big thermos, and fridge as the kitchen.  Smiling at us and pointing were a couple of ancient women.  They offered us dried squid cakes, which I have to admit is the most disgusting food I’ve seen thus far.  I’ll try one eventually because they’re so popular here, but I think I’ll stay away for a little while.  Another food to try is eel on a stick and live octopus, but that’s for another e-mail. We left the crazy women with the fish cookies and proceeded to the path.  The path was level and snaked around the side of the mountain towards the waterfall; our destination.  Far below us stretched miles of farmland, and above us you could clearly see the clouds as they billowed around the peak.  I could just make out a Buddhist monastery high above me, close to the top.  It was a pretty incredible sight to behold.  Finally, we made it to the waterfall and relaxed.  

Afterwards, we climbed back down and made our way to an old-style Korean restaurant that straddles a creek and small waterfall.  Emily ordered a traditional Korean meal which was served in several courses.  It was completely vegetarian and consisted of all kinds of peppers, vegetables (steamed, fried, cold), and soups (both hot and cold), noodles and rice.  There was leaf lettuce that you put the noodles and rice on, along with whatever vegetables you’d want, and ate like you would a cracker.  It was very good, and the sheer assortment of food I’ve never tried before was great.  It was explained that you had to leave the city to get “traditional” Korean food.  My chopstick skills are slowly improving and I’m actually able to eat with the things now.  They take practice, but once you get the hang of them, they’re great.  All in all, it was an amazing day and good experience.