"Special Autumn Trekking"

Over this past weekend, Mer1 and I traveled with the "Adventure Korea" group to Uljin in Gyeongsangbuk-do. What an experience, let me tell you.

Per the text of the Adventure Korea website, Mer1 and I were to board a bus on Saturday, November 1st at 7 am. The birthday outing of a fellow teacher, and consequently Halloween, accounted for our Friday evening activities. Due to the fact that oftentimes Friday evening activities nonchalantly fade into the wee hours of Saturday morning...we missed the bus. Yes, Mer1 and I missed the bus that Kriss Kross rapped about in 1992 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhUx3ENL-RQ). I was a young lassie, about six years old, when that hot track was released and could (and can!) entirely relate to hard knocks such as frequent tardiness.

My alarm sounded at 5:45 am... in a lethargic, yet logical manner, I promised myself five more minutes of rest. I did not wake up again until 7:08 am and at that time, I thought 'heck, what can I do now?' and went back to sleep. Mer1 woke us both up again at 9:45 am and droned on and on and about enfuriated she was that we had slept past the departure time of our $85 trekking trip. She contacted the leader of this trekking escapade and low and behold, we were able to take a series of trains to meet up with the group, which was about 6 hours south east of Seoul.

We packed our bags for one night and headed to the bus station. Mer1 and I caught bus that left at noon which was headed in the direction of our final destination. After hopping about three buses, we finally found ourselves in a shady bus station and waiting to be picked up by the hotel manager at 7 pm. We arrived at the "hotel" before the rest of the granolas, ahem, hikers in the group. The group had done an hour hike that afternoon but said that Mer1 and I had not missed much. We had dinner together at 7:30. Dinner consisted of pork on the grill (really fatty bacon) and the other typical Korean side dishes (which I really don't know what they are). I had a very nice time at dinner and we met some really nice people. I spoke with Lauren from Canada and her boyfriend, John, from England, about the presidential election. Pascal from France, who is a research fellow in Seoul, joined our conversation and acknowledged France's unbridled support for Senator Obama. I swear, these discussions always seem to find me but I get really excited to discuss American politics with people from all over the world.

We all finished dinner in about one hour and two ridiculous French boys, Remi and Charles, who are studying a semester in Korea for their MBA's coralled a group of us out to engage in a bit of norebong (Korean Karaoke). I must say that my two favorites of the evening entailed "Milkshake" by Kelis and "Barbie Girl" by Aqua. After some soju (choice Korean beverage) and songs, Mer1 and I decided that we really needed to get some sleep for the next day's journey...especially because we had missed the bus that morning. Our "hotel" was up a hill about a quarter of a mile away. We finally reached our humble abode for the evening and it was locked. The theme of the trip: "A day late and a dollar short." Then, we noticed a door bell and I laid into that bell like there was no tomorrow. After a continual push of the bell, an old man dressed in a brown suit and burnt orange polo came to our rescue. We entered the building, made it to the elevator and saw the man cuddle back into his "night watcher" couch turned bed.

Of course when we arrived to our room on the 5th floor, our random third roommate was nowhere to be found. A key was vital to achieve sleep that evening, therefore we found one of the two trip coordinators wandering through the hall in a rather inebriated state. I realized that this little man's English was extremely limited when I tried to explain that we did not have a key and needed help getting it from the night watcher. I grabbed the cuff of his little cute child's NY Yankees jacket and led him back downstairs where he hopped the front desk to get our key.

After we finally got our key, Mer1 and I scurried up to room 504 and went to sleep because we knew a full day was to come. The coordinators knocked on our door at 5:45 am in case we wanted to use the [public] sauna before the hike. So I snoozed some more. Anyway, the leaders knocked on our door again at 6:45 to get ready to leave for our hike at 7:30.

The group arrived at the trekking venue at about 8:30 am. Initially, it was a paved route and I thought that the trip was perfect for pansy such as myself. In time, I had to sling myself over rocks and jump over rivers...not ok. The scenary was absolutely beautiful and it was so nice to get out of the Seoul smog! The hike was nice, but I really enjoy focusing on people and their personalities. Two individuals in particular stood out to me on this journey. Joey from England was 31 years old and I had met him at the Karaoke bar the night before the hike. I knew that Joey like to wet his whistle, but this soul was "pissed" (British terminology for drunk) the entire trip. Prior to the hike, we stopped the bus for people to buy food, water, use the restroom. Joey came out from the convenient store at 8 am with some beers and a bottle of soju. Throughout the hike, Joey was boozing. After the hike, Joey purchased more alcohol for the ride home. On our way home, I was resting and listening to my ipod and I heard a huge 'thump!' I looked up and Joey was "tossed" out of his bus seat and laying in the aisle with his bottle of soju in hand. Needless to say, Joey was one of the most colorful characters on the trip and it would not have been as enjoyable without him.

The other individual was some red headed girl. I never knew her name or where she was from, but I knew that the lights were on and nobody was home. For the purpose of my story, she will be referred to as Pony Girl. Mer1 and I first met her at the hotel. The initial red flag was when we wanted to buy beverages at the hotel and she had suggested that we try the wine, for she had already drank three bottles alone in her room. When we got to the hike, we took a group photo and this girl was standing behind me. She asked if it was alright for her to include her My Little Pony doll with us in the photo. I was at a loss of what to say so I told her that Pony was more than welcome. Later on in the day, Pony Girl included her pony in every picture ever taken. Even on the way home, she had the pony riding in the very front of the bus with the bus driver...

All in all, I was very ready to arrive back to the comfort of my own apartment! It was a fun experience and an enjoyable weekend :)