Bukhan!

I feel better today. Probably eleven hours of sleep helped…though 200 kids begging for Halloween candy wore on my nerves. Ungrateful brats…I give you candy all the time!

Back to Bukhan…We spent Friday night there, at our overly luxurious motel. But first we had an early mushroom soup dinner, which our tour guide helped us find. By that I mean that he insisted on showing us a pictorial menu and accompanying us to our seats, all the while seeming flustered and anxious. In his nervousness, he even dropped his bag! Too funny. The meal was grossly overpriced, as was absolutely everything on the entire trip (prices were approximately triple what they’d be in Korea), but we did eat a lot and it was pretty good. Now that I’ve been back, though, I’m told I should have tried the naengmyeon (cold noodle dish), because apparently North Korea is known for it. I was even told I was an idiot for not doing so. I don’t even really like naengmyeon, though, and I doubt that it would be authentically North Korean in this artificial village, anyway, so I don’t regret it too much. I love mushrooms too much to ever regret eating them!

After dinner, we saw an acrobatics show. The team was from Pyeongyang. It was pretty good—they did some impressive stunts and I especially loved the trapeze act—but I think I’ve seen better shows. I prefer acts that are fast-paced and this one moved somewhat slow.

The next day, we had to wake up early to get ready, eat breakfast, and board our bus at 7:40. The morning would be spent hiking Guryong Waterfall (Nine Dragons Waterfall), and then we’d have the afternoon free. There was definitely an emphasis in all the tour guide talks of eating and shopping…it seems the other tourists were very concerned about this. Me, I can do without either, especially when they’re exasperatingly overpriced. I would have preferred longer hikes, but both days were relatively short. Anyway, after a potato-heavy breakfast and some unexpected shopping delays, we were finally on the mountain and it was gorgeous. We made it just in time for the leaves, it seems…they were definitely in full color at the lowest reaches of the mountain, and spare toward the top. The sun shone only faintly, unfortunately, so my pictures look a little dreary, but it was still nice. We wound our way up a gorge to the waterfall—about an hour hike—loitered at the top, and then climbed an outcropping where we could view the upper reaches of the falls and the “Nine Dragons” that spawned them (really, a succession of nine emerald pools that were really quite beautiful). Here we got a good view of the mountains, too—jagged peaks rising in every direction. And then we headed down.

We spent the afternoon at the spa. Not that we really deserved it, after our weenie hike, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve never been a huge fan of Korean spas, but this one was really nice. Half of it was outdoors, though you couldn’t see the surrounding scenery for the walls (protecting our naked bodies from prying eyes). There were three different saunas and about ten pools of varying temperatures in all. I guess I was just in the right mood for a dip, because it was really relaxing and fun. The company probably didn’t hurt, either.

That night we ate again at the mushroom restaurant, but it wasn’t nearly as good because two of the three side dishes they gave us were absolutely foul. So I had mushrooms and kimchi…yum! And then we chased down our meal with some Baekdusan blueberry wine at a village bar, which was not nearly as delicious as it sounds. We tried it on a whim and it was probably a bad decision, as we had a whole bottle and it was absolutely foul. As in, my nose burned when I took a drink and my face curled up against my will. Ah, well…it was still a better experience than the Taiwanese 7/11 special we tried in Taipei.

The next day, our last day, we had to wake up early again. This time we split up—Colleen and Stacy went on a tour of the nearby lake, while Nika and I went to Manmulsang, a short hike that featured bizarre and beautiful rock formations. It was a great hike, actually. Though we had to scamper around Koreans for the first 15-20 minutes, we were quickly right behind the tour guides. We’d been at the front the day before, too (which is the place to be when you’re on a single-trail mountain with 500 other people), but we’d dropped behind after a bit. Today, we stuck with the leaders and felt really cool and in. We were the first females and foreigners! We conquered the mountain! And we were in the company of the elite! (I am thinking my next job should be as a Geumgangsan tour guide. Goodness knows they need an English speaker for the foreigners, and clearly I can more than hold my own as a trailblazer. I’ll have to work on my walkie talkie skills, though.) It didn’t hurt that we harbored small crushes on the tour leaders, one of whom happened to be our tour guide. The other we’d observed the previous night, rushing around trying to find tourists. We nicknamed him “Strider” because of his purposeful gait. So there we were, in North Korea, at the head of a pack of hundreds of hikers…could life be better? Our tour guide, Choi Woo Seok, led us all the way to the top, where we enjoyed 10 minutes of gazing and picture-taking before the hordes descended. The next people up were also from our tour group—a man and woman and their teenage son. So clearly we had the kick-ass group. Nika commented—and I agreed—that they would be the perfect host family. I bet they go on family hikes all the time! And my host family watches TV…but anyway, after that we headed down. It seems there must have been another viewing point, because we didn’t see all that many people heading down, but we were content with what we’d seen and didn’t feel like exploring further. And it was a good choice, too, because we ended up on the shuttle bus with our tour guide! I don’t know how he beat us down there—I thought he would have been last, ushering people down the mountain—but I don’t argue with fate. Clearly ours is intertwined. Nika and I decided at some point that morning that he was the perfect man—a strong hiker, a confident speaker, a considerate guide…what more could you ask for? And later we found out he was a good singer, too! We were definitely sad to leave…

…and sadder still as our bus ride back stretched into nine hours. Korea is NOT a big country…it should have been more like three! But North Korean customs took us quite a while…for some reason, even after we’d all been cleared, they kept us there for another forty minutes. And Seoul-bound traffic was absolutely awful, as usual. We went a weird route, as well, along the southern border of Seoraksan. I was trying to nap—I was really tired—but I couldn’t because the road was so windy. I fully woke up to discover we were nearing the top of a 1000m pass. I’m still not sure why we took this route. It couldn’t have been the fastest. But the rest stop at the top had some great ddokboki (spicy rice cake) and I’ve been craving that lately, so I was happy enough. I managed to finish the cap I was knitting during the long ride, too.

I stayed the night at Susie’s apartment in the Fulbright building and got ridiculously little sleep. We stayed up for a while and chatted and snacked, and then I had trouble getting to sleep. I had to wake up at 5 to catch the subway to the bus station—my bus was at 6:30—and I just made it. Monday was a little crazy, but it still beats 70,000 won cab rides!

North Korea robbed me of my health, my man, and my money. I feel hollow this week.

Initial Impressions of North Korea

I am suddenly seriously ill. I am hot and cold at the same time and my body aches all over. This is not good at all. I have plans to do a big hike this weekend with Nika! But it does explain my lack of energy today and yesterday. I was worried I was getting sick of teaching, and when I have seven and a half weeks left, it’s never good. Better take care of myself this week, I suppose. Good thing I have Thursday morning off to recover. Oh, how did this happen? I thought incessant tea drinking would ward off all ills! In retrospect, tea can only do so much when I go hiking in the cold, as I did this afternoon. My hands were nearly frozen.

But on to North Korea (Bukhan, in Korean) before I forget…

I actually had a really long weekend…I left Thursday morning, and didn’t get back until Monday morning! There was a school picnic trip to Jeonju and the zoo, and I decided to go. I’m not really sure if it was optional or not—my co-teacher has a tendency to phrase things as can/can’t statements, rather than have to/don’t have to, and I was told I could go. I’ve been feeling a bit alienated from my students lately, though, since I never spend time at school anymore. I don’t know if I’m actually interacting with them less or not, but I think I should probably be more a part of their lives than I am. So I went, but I still didn’t really see my students. They sat me in the front of the bus, legs crammed against the water cooler, next to the old groundskeeper that I really can’t stand. I was not at all happy. And it rained. Off and on, but still…not ideal outdoor weather at all. And the zoo was disgusting. I forgot that I hate these sort of captive situations. Even safari hunts, where animals are supposedly in the wild, really turn me off. I feel we should leave the animals alone. If we’re fortunate enough to come across them, cool, but otherwise, how is it fair to confine them? The kids weren’t even that interested…we quickly strode through the zoo to the amusement park section, where we spent a couple hours going on decrepit, boring rides. My students were soooo frightened by the Ferris wheel-type ride, which only went around once and at a snail’s pace. I really didn’t know I was teaching a group of such wimpy kids! Even my fourth grade boys, who regularly terrorize me, came out of the ride looking frightened. I guess I’m glad I went—there’s not much else I could have done anyway, with the rain, and I got a pretty good meal out of the deal—but as usual, it was a somewhat disappointing school trip. Why are Korean outings so horribly lame?

I got off the bus at Buyeo to catch the express bus to Seoul. They were confused—I’d asked the fifth-grade teacher to take me to Nonsan to catch the train, because evening traffic into Seoul is always an absolute nightmare, but I figured that I would be lucky to be on the train in another hour and a half, since they had to go back to Hongsan, deposit the kids, and then drive to Nonsan, so I decided to save money and brave traffic. It was horrible, but I made it, finally, and met up with Colleen and Nika to find a hotel. Our usual one was full, somehow, but we found another one rather quickly. That’s the thing about Korea…there’s always lodging, though usually of dubious quality. Fortunately I’m not picky. And then we met Susie and Stacy (a new elementary ETA who lives in Wonju) and went out to a bar in Insadong Nika and I had stumbled across before and loved. I didn’t like it as much this time—I felt rushed, because it was already late by that time and we had to wake up early the next morning. Plus, everyone was ravenous, so we ate our kimchi side dishes with our first round of tea. I don’t recommend it.

The next morning we had to catch the bus to the border. There’s a tour company that runs relatively cheap routes to the eastern border patrol, from which we can catch a Hyundai tour bus. It worked pretty well…we were only confused for a little while, when we were in the waiting room on the Korean side with masses of unfamiliar Koreans and no one to guide us. But once we got through, our tour guide took over. (The tour guide we grew to love, though communication was minimal. More follows.) Unfortunately, even though we requested the cheapest accommodation for the dual purposes of saving money and meeting people our age, we were assigned to a far too luxurious hotel. So that’s why the price of our tour suddenly became exorbitantly high. Most likely, the travel agent, as always in Asia, assumed we wanted luxury. They almost never do it because they’ll make more money—it seems the mentality is just different, and they assume if you have the money you want the best, which is not at all true in my case. I like minimalist travel. I was quite disappointed with the hotel—not just because it probably cost a lot more, but also because it seemed ludicrous to stay in such surroundings in such a poor country. The drive through it was astounding. It was definitely a different country. It was, as Nika said, like going back in time. In the DMZ, known as an ecological haven because it has been virtually untouched for fifty years, you could see what Korea would really look like without all the development. It’s startling. Instead of cultivation everywhere, which I’d grown to expect and don’t really see anymore, it was just wide open fields leading to the mountains. It was gorgeous. It made me sad that absolutely no other part of Korea is left untouched these days, at least in the south. No wonder I see no animals! There’s no wilderness left at all! And the north was different, too. This might have been an unfortunate effect of the weather, but everything appeared grey. Grey thatched huts, grey concrete schools, grey fields where people were working with unsophisticated equipment…it was so crazy to see that so close to home, to see the difference between the two countries within a matter of hours. And all this happened in fifty years! I really wish I could travel around North Korea—I’m sure it’s a fascinating place, especially knowing all I do about Korea, and it’s a terrific gateway to the rest of Asia—but it’s not allowed at all. We couldn’t even take pictures from the bus!

It’s unfortunate, too, for Koreans. They are separated, often from family, and in a country with a strong national identity, this must be difficult to come to terms with. Everyone I’ve talked to about this (granted, not many people since few I come across can articulate themselves that well) seems confident that it will pass, and soon. But after seeing it, I wonder how? The countries are so vastly different. The south will have to invest a lot in the north, and I’m not sure if they’d want to do that. And both are fiercely independent…who will concede to the other? The separation is also unfortunate in the sense that it isolates South Koreans from the world. It’s so difficult to travel outside the country, and few attempt it. When they do, it’s on giant group tours that recreate Korea, so they never actually experience the place. I’d like to see a more worldly people (though I can hardly criticize, as an American…we’re notoriously fearful and ignorant of others, even within our own country!).

And here I’ll have to end for the day…I’m about to die. Oh, sickness…why do you persist?

Recovery

I sit surrounded by tea and electronics. Possibly not the best of combinations, but every electronic device I own seems to need charging and/or attention after the long weekend away, and I desperately need tea to keep me grounded. I am exhausted and feel more than a little out of sorts. It was a great weekend, but today was killer. A warning: what follows might not make much sense!

I stayed in Seoul with Susie last night. We actually didn’t get to Seoul until nearly 10…somehow we spent nine hours on buses traversing the country. Customs and traffic hindered our way. And somehow I wasn’t tired, even though we’d been getting up earlier than usual and hiking. The freedom of being outside a bus went to my head, I suppose. I stayed up for a while, chatting to Susie, and didn’t really go to sleep until close to midnight. I had to wake up at five to catch my bus and I was afraid I’d miss it—I’ve never done this early-morning-right-to-school travel business before, and I wasn’t sure how well it was going to work. I had no other options this time, however. At any rate, I didn’t sleep well, but I did make the bus with only a couple minutes to spare. It was still dark out as we were leaving Seoul. I was surprised…daylight has really slipped away from us. The days are so short now. It is completely dark by six and doesn’t get light until seven the next morning. I sure miss lazy long days!

I arrived at school a little after nine. I was lucky and made every travel connection right away. It was actually much easier than I expected. Good thing I don’t have class first period on Mondays, though! And teaching under such conditions wasn’t as difficult as I expected, either, but I definitely was less patient and more irritable. Class didn’t go all that well, which is disappointing because I rely on my angelic Monday classes to carry me through the relative hell that is the rest of the week. I’ll see them again tomorrow, though…hopefully things will go much better!

I spent this afternoon lesson planning and for the first time this semester I found myself without inspiration. I simply could not think of a thing to teach my sixth graders tomorrow. My brain is just not working today. I spent over an hour just sitting and thinking (sort of). It’s frustrating to be so off. How is it that I made it through high school and college in this condition? Now I can’t even make it through a morning! Growing old, I tell you…I am planning on eating dinner (hopefully it’s early tonight) and going to bed. I can’t make it through another instant without sleep. Recounting North Korea will just have to wait until tomorrow.

Gyeongju Conference - Friday, Oct. 19 through Monday, Oct. 22

Surprisingly, I enjoyed this year’s fall Fulbright conference—when I knew virtually no one—much more than I did either of the two last year—when I knew everyone. I guess it’s because I detest reunions. There’s always so much pressure to get in “quality time” and “see everyone” and it never actually happens. This year, I only wanted to see a couple people—the ones I see all the time, anyway—so I felt no pressure. And being around all these new people made me realize how much I’ve learned in the last year. Thinking back to the conference last year…well, I was clueless back then! I was so confused about my role as a teacher, I knew virtually nothing about Korea, and I was a little blown away by life here. It was all very bewildering. And now I feel like a pro. I’m knowledgeable in and out of the classroom and can figure out most anything in Korea. I’d almost forgotten how much I’d changed in the last year.

I arrived in Gyeongju Thursday night. Traveling was a bit of a nightmare, actually, because I realized half an hour into our drive that I’d forgotten my train ticket, which I’d insisted my co-teacher buy for me beforehand, in my desk in Hongsan. We had to buy a new ticket and I had to get it validated en route to be reimbursed. And I thought I’d miss the train after all. But luckily my co-teacher is somewhat competent when it comes to trains, evidently, and Daejeon subways are surprisingly fast. So my journey was not as exciting as it might have been. Nika met me at the station and led me through the rain (will it ever end? I thought fall was here!) to our very cute hostel. It was a traditional house and was really nice. So nice we went to sleep early instead of going out as we’d planned.

We had made plans long ago to hike Namsan, a historic mountain south of the city, before the conference started in the afternoon. Namsan was sacred to the people of the Silla dynasty a thousand years ago, so the mountain is littered with ancient carvings and relics. It’s pretty amazing and was one of my favorite things I saw last year. So we woke up early, made ourselves some complimentary breakfast, and tried to find our way there via the bus. It was not as successful as we would have liked—we ended up getting on a bus going the wrong way—but we made it there in the end. The hike also was not entirely successful. We’d both done it last year and had stuck to the southernmost end of the mountain, so this time we took to the north. However, trails were hard to follow and we didn’t end up seeing much in the way of history. We saw a lot of rounded burial mounds and hiked in circles several times, but managed to miss many of the relics we wanted to see. It was a little frustrating. The problem is that the trails are sooo traveled…they literally go EVERYWHERE on the mountain, and so you never know which way to go. At one point, we turned off the main trail to see an old pagoda, supposedly only 130 m away, and could not even find it because of all the trails that snaked around the hillside! It was a little frustrating. However, we did see Buddha of the Valley, a statue from the seventh century that I had wanted to see, and dozens of old bas reliefs at a nearby hermitage. Too bad our experience with the former was marred by a loud, nearly violent fight between one old lady and apparently everyone else. I wasn’t really sure what was going on—Nika said it was something about a candle—but neither of us were inclined to linger and figure it out, or admire the statue more. We did each get another handkerchief for our hiking quilts, which is always exciting, and made it back to the conference just in time.

The conference itself was unmemorable that afternoon. Nika and I gave a quick and unrehearsed presentation on hiking in Korea, which, combined with our incessant tea-brewing, cemented our reputations as a couple of hard-core environmentalists or hippies or weirdos, depending on your interpretation. I think I might have terrified some of them. I’m sure they won’t forget either of us, though!

That night the three of us—Janaki was our roomie—tried to make friends, but all the kids disappeared somehow. I don’t know how they did it, but we couldn’t really find anyone. One of the problems was the temperature. It’s definitely well on the way to winter now—it was even chilly during the day this weekend—and Nika and I both independently decided to deny its existence, meaning that neither of us were dressed for it. I didn’t have a jacket of any kind, barring my long underwear top, and I only brought a skirt and sandals to wear. Needless to say, I’ve finally put the sandals away after the follies of this weekend. I’ve gotta move on to the Converse for winter, I guess. Anyway, after some aborted Family Mart drinking, we ended up drinking a little makoli at a bar and crashing the norebang session of some kids we’d never met before. It was pretty fun, but my throat is still not 100% and it hurt some. (I don’t know why I still have such issues with sickness…this phlegm/cough thing has been going on for a month and a half now! It’s frustrating when I want to wail along with, say, Aqua in “Barbie Girl.”) They were even singing in Korean—I was impressed! And Janaki and Nika managed to do a song in Korean, too…how do they know Korean songs? I don’t hear ANYTHING where I live!

Saturday was the big conference day. In the morning we had small group discussions, which were surprisingly interesting and helpful. Last year they always disintegrated into bitch sessions and nothing was actually accomplished, but this year we came up with some good suggestions and advice for each other. It made me feel better about my situation, too…sometimes I think I should have switched schools. When my school does stuff like forcing me to teach a winter camp, or giving me only enough travel money to get TO the conference and not back, even though it’s in my contract, I dream about being somewhere else. Or when it’s Sunday evening and I’m trying to get back to Hongsan and I have to take five buses and a taxi to get there…I dream about being in a big city. But it sounds like I have the best situation. I do get away with more, because I have a history with my school, so I get perks like Friday afternoons off and extra Chuseok vacation. And there’s only one other girl who is allowed to make her own lessons. I think I would rather die than teach that god-awful book. Talking to the other kids helped me put my situation in perspective again, and I’m newly appreciative of the perks my school and teaching situation allow me. And it was nice to finally meet these guys and realize they weren’t the monsters I’d feared. They were all really nice and I wish I’d gotten to talk to them more than just that hour and a half.

The afternoon was soooooo boring. It consisted of a horrible presentation on a new computer program for language learning—sooooo not applicable to my situation, where the administration claims they can’t even spare 20,000 won for my travel expenses—during which I very obviously did some India research. It doesn’t matter anymore, though…as far as Mrs. Shim is concerned, I have the golden E (for extendee) stamped on my forehead and I can do no wrong. She was ridiculously delighted to see us all. I’m pretty sure she’s never really seen me before—I tend to be overshadowed by brighter personalities—but she was very much into me this time. It’s nice to be appreciated, though. I suppose the eleven of us are much less of a headache for her than the other ETAs, especially considering that this group seems to be a particular challenge. I met some really nice people, but some of the others seem to have serious attitude problems. As in, they very childishly hold grudges against the administration of the program and cause a lot of problems for everyone. There also seems to be a problem of entitlement—many ETAs seem to think that Fulbright is completely in charge of them and are unwilling to take responsibility for themselves. Like one girl blaming Fulbright because she evidently “starved” during Orientation…why don’t you buy yourself some food, then?!? And there are complaints that they only got 35,000 won a week throughout Orientation. I guess some of them think they should get our usual 1,400,000…why, I don’t know, because that’s in exchange for TEACHING, which no one does during Orientation. Instead of being grateful they get anything, some kids seem to think they deserve more, which seems ludicrous to me. We all have pretty cushy jobs, undemanding and with reasonable pay and more than reasonable vacation. What makes you think you deserve more? Anyway, this is all just surface impressions and second-hand information. I can only hope the picture I’ve developed of some of these ETAs is horribly incorrect. Even if it isn’t, there are still some I like, so there is at least that.

Anyway…there I was, planning for this India trip that I’m not even really supposed to take because Fulbright is being really strict about out-of-country days this year. My strategy is to lie, lie, lie. I’ve experienced enough Korean culture…I go out of my way to visit a new place every week, I meet new people all the time, I study the language and history and literature…if the goal is to make me aware of and knowledgeable in Korean culture, well…I’m already pretty well there. Forcing me to spend the cold winter months here will only make me resentful. So Nika and I are covertly going forward with our plans, and doing so with Fulbright time. Hee hee hee. We also had to partake in a “cultural activity”—a traditional Korean game (the explanation for which made me more appreciative of my students’ attention when I do games…my eyes were glazing over, and it was in my mother tongue!) and take a group picture.

The next day was unremarkable. We got some tea and street food downtown, taking in the long-absent sun, and then went back to the hotel for the final buffet dinner. Thankfully, it featured Chinese-style pine mushrooms that were absolutely divine. I think Mrs. Shim is fully aware of my and Nika’s love for the peosot (mushroom). We had a ton of mushrooms all weekend. I hope she will always take care of us like this. And then we chilled the rest of the night. I talked to some ETAs and then went to bed early. Weird to think that I will never know most of their names, and probably also won’t see most until Jeju. But maybe I’ll make friends. I sure wasn’t friends with that many people last year at this time, either. It was a gradual process for me. Maybe it’ll be the same this year. If not, I already have enough friends, anyway. Nika and Janaki keep me pretty busy.

I woke up early on Monday. I think I was the first ETA up. I was definitely alone at brunch, except for a bunch of fat foreigners who disgusted me. I wanted to get an early start—I planned to go hiking in Daegu before heading home, and since I’d never been to the mountain before, I wasn’t sure how to find it or how long it would take. Another example of something I would have been too timid to attempt last year, but now leapt right into with gusto. Anyway, transportation was not as frequent as I hoped, but I got there by ten and up to the mountain by 11, with five hours ahead of me for scaling Palgongsan. I think this mountain was actually recommended to me by some hikers I met a few weeks ago at Juwangsan…all I caught at the time was pal (which means eight). It was a nice place—a really long ridge, which I love to climb, and several ways up and down at various points along it. The leaves were turning, too…it was really beautiful. The biggest flaw was that the highest peak was inaccessible. There were communication towers of some sort there—the same scenario as Gyerongsan. What’s the point of a national park that has such monstrosities in its midst? I hate this about Korea. Why do they ruin the hiking experience this way? But besides that, it was nice. I managed to hike the entire western portion of the ridge, from Pagyesa Temple, across at least three peaks, and down to Donghwasa Temple. And I scored another handkerchief! I was a little worried at the end—it turned out there wasn’t a bus that went directly to the train station from Donghwasa, which surprised me because it was a major temple—but with the help of my memory for place names, my growing Korean vocabulary, and my sense of direction, I was able to figure it out and switched buses without a hitch. Except when I was trying to leave the first bus and some high school girls had to help me by yelling at the driver to open the door (I’d taken too long to get to it, locked in by what seemed like an entire high school). I had a lovely train ride to enjoy the remainder of my India book (Naipaul’s India: A Million Mutinies Now), my bag of kim, and my apple. Bliss. But a good thing I’d filled up on breakfast…I had no time for delays! And, in fact, I almost missed my connection in Daejeon. I had to take a city bus from the train station to the bus station and it was late, so I ran to the bus station and made it just in time to have the bus halted. It was exhilarating and empowering, after the travel fiascos of recent weekends. It was the last bus to Hongsan from Daejeon, so I was set. I navigated across the country in a day, taking five city buses, one regular bus, and two trains, and still managed time for a lengthy hike in the country’s biggest provincial park. That’s what I call a successful day! Though I might have started my week feeling worn-out, it was a very satisfied tired. I’m getting the hang of this country!

A long long day...

I am so tired. I have been on the go for weeks and weeks now. The last month of activity has taken its toll on me. But life will not slow down. Well, it could if I wanted it to, but I refuse to give in to fatigue. I’m too young for that, and there’s too much to do to act like an old lady. I realized tonight that I haven’t really been home since last Wednesday, and anyway, I only spend significant time here two days a week. The rest of the time I’m too busy traveling and hiking and walking and generally avoiding sedentary activity. Except on those really really lengthy and taxing (on my patience) bus rides…I hope my host family is not resentful. I don’t think they would be, though…it’s become clear that they are not pushing for any close relationship with me. We’re all too busy, and also very shy.

Anyway…I am home late today because of a surprise conference and dinner party. I arrived at school today—flustered, because I haven’t been there in what feels like so long and I had to teach right away that morning—to find my co-teacher writing a new schedule for the day on my desk. All the teachers were supposed to attend some sort of workshop in Nonsan that afternoon, so they had to move the schedule up. This left me without a co-teacher and with only ten minutes (instead of twenty) to prepare for my first class, the first graders. I found today that although I may not agree with how authoritarian he is with his students, Mr. Lee is effective. As in, they usually don’t stand on chairs and scream when he’s in the room. They were okay, though, considering how many of them they are and the freedom they must have felt without him. I’ve definitely had many a worse class. I also forgot to prepare a lesson for my sixth-graders—it must have felt too far away last week, and I guess I thought I could wing it anyway—and I had to make a last-minute Jeopardy game. It was so crude, but worked pretty well. Good thing I only had half of the regular class, though. So it was a hectic morning, but I enjoyed my students, as I always do on Mondays and Tuesdays. These first days of the week are always so glorious and I often already feel sad that we’ll have to say goodbye to each other soon. Until I get to Wednesdays, that is…

But I still had no clue what was happening this afternoon, and I was also a little resentful that my free afternoon was being snatched from me. Better than a teachers’ workshop, which I still haven’t taught and never want to, but still…I was in need of some catch-up time. I still haven’t finished my Taiwan journal, and it’s been three weeks! So to Nonsan we went (forty minutes away). I was surprised to see some of my students there, dressed for samulnori. There was one mystery solved—why many of my students had missed class and had been parading around in their samulnori clothes. But why….I was curious, but I employed my usual tactic of trying to figure things out for myself. It was unsuccessful, because I lacked the Korean, but eventually my co-teacher told me it was a conference on after-school programs. I don’t know what the point was, really—how is the conference going to change our programs, or help us teach better, or offer more to our students, when it consisted of only a performance from each school and a lengthy PowerPoint?—but this is the way things are done in Korea. Conferences aren’t revolutionary—they’re just reports. Nothing productive comes out of them. And I evidently wasn’t the only one bored, either. I suppose the bigger mystery is why we have conferences at ALL, but it seems that no one questions them. And for teachers who are required to spend the day at school, I suppose it’s more fun to sit and eat ddok (of which there was plenty!) and mingle with other teachers than to be stuck in Hongsan.

The first part of the afternoon consisted of performances from each of the schools. Luckily, my school chose samulnori, which is classy and my personal favorite. I really like to watch them play, too…one of my sixth-graders, Jae Cheol, is sooo funny when he plays. He’s a head-banger…to traditional music. Too cute. The other schools chose less interesting, even disturbing acts. The first one, from the Gyeryong school, was okay—a choir performance. Kyoung Hee Sam’s daughter was one of the singers, too. They were a cute group of girls, but nothing too special. The other two schools…I am not sure what they were thinking when they chose infant prostitutes and pimps to represent their schools. This is a trend I’ve noticed in other performances, too…they seem to think it’s cute to see little children skimpily clad and shaking for all they’re worth. I find it repulsive to see such overt sexuality to wee ones and think it’s especially odd in a conservative culture, where adults are always completely covered up. I guess Korean culture is still beyond my understanding. The first act featured girls in bikini-like halter tops and cheerleader skirts, and boys in tight-fitting suits. Both costumes were made of shimmery velour-looking material. I am not kidding when I say that they looked like cheap prostitutes. But everyone around me was cheering and crying “Cute!” when they saw them. I felt bad for the chubby girl and boy, who had no choice but to put it all on display. And the second act was even worse. The skirts weren’t too bad this time—at least they were ankle-length—but now they had all sorts of jangly chains attached to the brassiere tops and the hips of their skirts, which they shook with all their might in very provocative ways for the entirety of the ten minute performance. I was horrified. Am I a prude, or is this really strange? Who in their right mind would teach elementary students belly-dancing, and then choose that one thing to represent their school at what appeared to be a major and important conference?

The second part of the afternoon was just boring. Two hours of speeches, all in Korean, and all very boring, even if I could understand, because they were about schools and percent enrollment and such. I tried to pay attention for a while—figured I could work on my listening skills—but it was numbing. And frustrating to be locked in there. I seriously contemplated escape, but figured I would be noticed. I did solve another mystery, though…why my favorite teacher, Kim In Gyu, has been hard at work on his computer for the last month, instead of teaching gym. And why he made a book last week with my face on it. He was in charge of this presentation! I did pay attention to his portion—figured I owed it to him, after how nice he is every day. Too bad he chose the most unflattering photos of me EVER. Also, they were all of regular class, not the club class, which I think absolutely no one has visited.

Then it was dinnertime. Sort of. It was not even five, but we always eat really early when we’re together as a school, because everyone lives so far away from each other. We went to my favorite Nonsan restaurant, the one I went to last spring with In Gyu and my co-teacher and Kyoung Hee Sam and the fifth grade teacher. It has great dolsot bap. Tonight it was so good…if only I hadn’t been full of ddok! (I still have eight pieces the female teachers forcibly stuffed in my pockets. I think they’re on a mission to fatten me up again.) I ate way too much anyway—In Gyu kept ordering refills of my favorite side dishes, again and again and again, and I kept eating them, even though each time I was full. Who can say no to mushrooms and tofu and mountain vegetables? Not me! And now here I am, home at 8 and tired beyond belief. How am I going to get through this week? How am I going to find the time to pack for North Korea? Aigo, himduro!

The Spoils of an Undemanding Job

I am fairly certain that I have not yet taught a full week of school, even disregarding the teachers’ workshop that has not yet met. There are always surprise days off, or classes have other obligations, or, rarely, they just don’t show up. It’s always a nice treat to arrive at school and be told that half your classes won’t meet that day. This happened today…I taught the first two, and then my co-teacher came by to tell me that the third graders would be spending time outside (doing what? I don’t know) and my third and fourth periods would therefore be free. Score! I love having an undemanding job. It’s just enough work to make me feel that I’m earning my pay, and just enough pay to allow me to have fun with all the free time I have. I don’t know why anyone would choose a career over this.

I hiked around Hongsan this afternoon—not a long one, but more of an exploration to lay the grounds for further penetration. There’s this trail I found at the end of last year that follows a mountain ridge from one temple on the other side of Hongsan all the way to another temple near Oesan, about 10-15 kilometers away. It’s indistinct and cobwebby, but fun for an afternoon out. Anyway, I did the whole ridge once last year and now I’m trying to figure out where all the offshoots go. The one I took today led me into someone’s garden on the edge of Hongsan. It’s much nearer to my house than the temple, so it’s good to know there’s a trail there. It was scenic, too—bamboo and pine and all sorts of other lovely green vegetation whose names I do not know. I wonder if it will change color soon.

Tomorrow I have a full day of work (I think….) and then I head to Gyeongju for the conference. Nika and I are going to hike on Friday morning before it starts on one of my favorite mountains, Namsan. It’s absolutely littered with ancient Buddhist carvings and statues. It’s really neat. Then, unfortunately, we have the conference itself for two days, and then we’re basically free for two days (the new kids have to do a sightseeing tour on Sunday, but we extendees are exempt because it’s identical to last year’s tour). I’m planning on a lot more hiking—gotta take advantage of this crisp and clear fall weather!

Dodging Bullets

I’m dodging bullets left and right here at Hongsan Elementary School. Work obligation bullets, that is.

First, my co-teacher approached me this morning to talk about winter camp. I don’t want to do this camp anyway—it’s torture for everyone involved—but if I have to, I want to do it at the end of February, right before school starts again. I told her this last week, but she must have misunderstood because today she excitedly told me it was all set…for January 21. Right in the middle of my vacation. I am not trying to be selfish here, but I don’t really want to cut my planned trips short and I definitely do not want to take two separate vacations. I guess they thought there would be no time in February…the first week is vacation for the lunar new year, and then final exams and the graduation ceremony the following week, and then I guess everything is up in the air for two weeks while they figure out the new year. (Not the best system, if you ask me, but no one does.) Apparently, my co-teacher is hoping to leave the school, which will leave me with yet another co-teacher for the spring. In the end, though, I did succeed in rescheduling the winter camp for the last part of February, but it will not include the sixth graders because they will graduate. It DOES include the first AND second graders, for some unknown reason. I don’t even want to think about how UNfun it will be to teach a combined class with 6-11 year olds.

Second, the teachers’ workshop was canceled yet again. We still haven’t had it yet this semester, which makes me really happy. I really hate teaching it—it’s so boring and I have no idea what to teach them—and it gives me another afternoon off. I get a little anxious on Tuesday mornings, not knowing when I will be required to teach, but today my co-teacher said it might not even happen in November. Score!

I spent the afternoon walking around on the back roads, listening to Cat Stevens. It’s harvest time and it’s really fun to see all the little old farmers on their decrepit tractors, hauling small loads of rice stalks, or raking rice across the roads to dry. The rice that’s still in the fields is yellow and gleaming and makes for nice scenery, contrasting with the clear blue sky and the deep green trees. Korean fall is certainly picturesque, wherever you go.

And it appears all my walking and hiking and yogaing and restraining from full bowls of rice is paying off…the teachers told me today that my face was small. Getting smaller and smaller every day. After protesting that my face is the same shape it’s always been, I realized they meant I was getting thinner. Perhaps my face is thinning out, too. I reassured them that I wasn’t really losing weight…I’m just losing my Korean weight. I hope their concern results in more tasty snacks for me…the cafeteria’s not really cutting it these days.

Conquering Odaesan

I am listening to pajeon frying in the kitchen and Eun Ho and Ye Eun energetically playing on the computer while I brew Chinese tea with my Taiwanese tea set and download Taiwan photos. I am content, again. It has been a good day—my lessons went well, the day was sunny and bright, we had a delicious noodle soup for lunch, I bought persimmons and pears for the week’s fruit consumption at Chorus Mart, and I just finished a fulfilling yoga session. I’ve settled into a really relaxing and rewarding routine where the days just seem to float effortlessly into each other. I am more serene and calm than I’ve ever been. Nothing can faze me. The struggle has ceased. Though I have minor complaints at times, they really don’t trouble me much—I either do something about it, or let them go. This is an amazing new development for me, someone with a perpetually negative outlook who has always held onto grudges (against both myself and others). This is the calm I’ve been striving for and I am enjoying it.

Last weekend was another big trip. Nika and I decided we were in great need of a long, strenuous hike, so we picked a park neither of us had been to and hit it. Hard. Transportation—there, back, and around there—was difficult, but Odaesan was amazing and more than made up for any other troubles. (Plus, I’m trying to not be bitter.) I’m on a mission to hit up every mountainous national park in Korea, so there’s one more to check off my list. We actually were able to hike every single inch of trail in the two days we were there—over twenty miles! Definitely an accomplishment to be proud of (and another national park handkerchief to add to my quilt). And in the process, we scaled five peaks over 1300 m (Birobong at 1563, Sangwangbong at 1491, Durobong at 1421, and Dongdaesan at 1433 the first day, and Noinbong at 1338 the second). Some of them were less than spectacular. Durobong, for instance, was really just a trail junction, and Sangwangbong and Dongdaesan were monopolized by helicopter pads. It didn’t help, too, that fog reduced visibility to a matter of feet for a good portion of the afternoon of the first day. But we did have a spectacular view of the park from Birobong, the first peak, and from Noinbong we could see the sea in the distance and Seoraksan looming in the north. It was beautiful, especially with the trees in fall colors. The lower areas were completely green, but in the middle the leaves were a variety of shades—vibrant red, rust orange, mellow yellow, pale green, and even the occasional deep dark pine.

The first day we hiked a loop in what is known as the outer area of the park. It’s a U-shaped ridge. It was nearly 20 km and took us 7-8 hours. We had planned to continue to the inner area of the park, but the connecting trail was closed, and apparently had been for nearly four years. It wasn’t scheduled to open until the end of 2011. I don’t know what could require eight years of construction on a 1.7 km trail, but we were reluctant to try it, knowing how long it had been since anyone had been on it. And there was no telling what we would find at the bottom. It was colder than we’d reckoned and both of us were looking forward to a hot meal, not more protein bars and apples. So we finished the loop, ate some sanchae jeongshik (a traditional Korean meal that features platters upon platters of mountain vegetables and is a specialty of national park areas—the highlight, sometimes!) and found a minbak. We stayed in this random old lady’s house. Neither of us slept that well—I’m such a princess when it comes to bedding—but it was nice to be warm and settled for the night.

The next day we called a cab to take us to the other trailhead. We had to go around the outer area, so it was quite an expensive ride, considering that the day before we’d been within 2 kilometers of it. We ascended our final peak, with the most amazing view of perhaps any peak in Korea I’ve seen, and then dropped down into Sogeumgang Valley, a spectacular area of rushing water, craggy rocks, etc. And it was very beautiful. At the end, we had more mountain food. This time it was mushroom soup, again with platters of mountain vegetables. I am very fond of this Korean tradition of eating and drinking after a long hike. There are always so many restaurants at trailheads, and they’re all so delicious! We couldn’t even decide what to eat!

One of the nice things about this weekend was getting away from the crowd. There were so many people at the park, but we really didn’t see many of them beyond the climb to Birobong and through half of Sogeumgang. We really took the paths less traveled and they were really nice. We were alone with the leaves, our thoughts, and each other. It was just what I needed to get my energy back after a lethargic week (I haven’t been sleeping well). Now I only have three more days of work, then another weekend of hiking in Gyeongju! (Though unfortunately, it’s intermixed with workshopping…)

Contentment

Today I am at peace. I am sipping on my favorite Korean tea, munching on Taiwanese tea plums, and thinking. I accomplished everything I wanted to do for the day and I have only two classes between me and a two-day hiking trip with Nika. I’ll finally try out all the hiking gear I got this summer! Life is grand.

Battling gravity and unfriendly bus schedules

Wednesdays are official hiking days. I have the afternoon off—it’s time for teachers to catch up on work/”play volleyball”/eat a lot, so naturally I dart away as soon as possible. I need a midweek pickup and more time at school does not cut it, especially since I have two of my most difficult classes on Wednesdays—2-1 and 3-2. Today was especially horrible. I actually fantasized about slapping half the kids. I restrained myself to loud noises—banging on desks, raised voice, etc. Yeah, I’m a great teacher. But when they can’t/won’t understand me, what else can I do? To do my job, I need the students to put in a little effort, too. Oh, it’s trying.

This week I decided to go to Chilgapsan Provincial Park, a little north of Buyeo. I didn’t realize it would be so difficult to reach—my guidebook said I could catch a bus from Buyeo, but everyone there told me I couldn’t. I had to wait an hour for the next bus to Cheongyang, a town north of the park, and then catch another bus to the park itself. I was questioning my decision—and in retrospect, perhaps it was a bad one—but I decided in favor of adventure. I knew I’d regret it if I gave up. Two hours after I started out, I finally arrived at the park. I didn’t know where I was or where to go, but it was nice to be out in the crisp fall air, climbing. It was a good thing I can read Korean now…the park was definitely not foreigner-friendly. I walked across the entire ridgeline in two and a half hours, ending up near a temple (the area where I originally wanted to go, which supposedly had buses to Buyeo). It was a nice walk—not too strenuous, with a good view of the surrounding area. I’m glad I went, if only to know that I probably don’t want to go back…unless I have a day to dedicate to buses. Anyway, I was still hopeful I could get to Buyeo from there, but the man in the park information office told me that not only were there no buses to Buyeo, there were no buses ANYWHERE. Fortunately, he offered me a ride to Cheongyang and we conversed—sort of—in Korean the whole way. Sometimes I feel so capable here! From what I could gather, he found it very odd I was single and kept checking to make sure, but I could only catch the one word—alone. My ability to understand Korean is largely limited to anticipating what people might want to ask, based on a few verbal cues. I get by. He took me to the bus station, where I learned the Buyeo-bound bus had left ten minutes before and I would have to wait another hour and a half. I picked a GREAT day to leave my book at home.

So, three hours of moderate exercise, two and a half hours of waiting, and two hours of bus rides after I left, I was back in Hongsan. And much worse for the wear, too, because I’d skinned both my knees klutzing around the Buyeo bus terminal. I don’t think I’ve skinned my knees since I was a kid—thought I’d grown out of that clumsy stage of my life—but now I have two skinned knees, courtesy of an unanticipated step. They burn and one of them is still oozing pus. I also hurt my arm in a fall on the trail. Gravity certainly got the best of me today.

What I learned today:
1. ALWAYS bring a book.
2. Chilgapsan is not worth a return visit…unless I’m REALLY bored.
3. Rely on the kindness of Korean strangers…they’ll always come through!

Fall Reflections

Today was a gorgeous day. Fall has finally come to korea, with its clear blue skies and sunny days. It makes me happy just to be outside, breathing it in. Anything is bearable in such conditions. I hope it lasts.

I recently received a letter from Bianca that has made me think a lot about my behavior toward others. She mentioned that she was a big believer in interpersonal chemistry—that who you are depends on who you are with—and remarked that it’s felt off since returning to America. I’ve experienced the same thing but had always chalked it up to reverse culture shock. Perhaps that’s part of it, but I think the majority of my struggle in returning “home” centers around my inability (or unwillingness?) to relate to anyone from my former life. I’m fine with strangers, but with those who are close to me…well, we should all pity them. We all change, all the time, and it can be difficult to readjust—more difficult than making new friends, for instance. Sometimes I don’t want to readjust, either because I’m afraid of falling back into old patterns or because I fear intimacy, and then I make it more difficult than it needs to be. I definitely become a different, and worse, person when I go home. I feel paralyzed. Home is always portrayed as this warm accepting place where you can relax and be yourself, but for me, it’s often very stressful. I feel all these conflicting expectations of who I am and who I should be and I get confused and defensive, even though I know no one really expects anything in particular of me. Worse, I feel myself becoming more judgmental in response to the new distance I feel in my relationships with loved ones. I am more comfortable with anonymity and this saddens me. What deters me from attempting to resolve the crisis in interpersonal chemistry with those I love?

I experienced this problem most recently in Taiwan, when I saw my friend Caitie for the first time in over a year. I didn’t take the interpersonal chemistry theory into consideration at the time—I hadn’t received Bianca’s letter yet—but it definitely came into play in our time together. We’d grown apart, basically, and we both found it difficult to relate to one another. We don’t share the same interests anymore and our world views and philosophies of living had completely diverged. All we had was the past, and I don’t know if it was enough. I think we were both frustrated by the experience. I did learn that in the future, it would probably be best to not meet friends abroad. A reunion is difficult enough—combining it with travel in a foreign country is just too much for me. In retrospect I wish she’d come to Korea—it would have been much easier to enjoy her company in a place where I am comfortable and feel less stressed.
In more cheering news, I received a letter from Lutsha today. It was very uplifting, for once, and it made me really happy to hear he’s doing so much better. I really feel we are doing a good thing here, by giving him money for school, and I was thinking again today that I wish there was a way to do more. On my walk I brainstormed fund-raising ideas for a high school to college mentoring and scholarship program for Khayelitsha students. There’s obviously a need, if my students from two and a half years ago are writing me in Korea for help in attending college. I have a pretty good vision and perhaps I can find a fellowship or something to put it into action. I’ll need to do some research—I’m not sure how feasible all of it is. Basically, I envision a program that high school seniors will apply to be a part of. We’ll work together twice a week—first on college applications, then on job-related stuff. Meanwhile, I’ll recruit businesses that will agree to pay tuition in return for an unpaid internship. (This is the part I’m unsure of—is it economically feasible? Maybe I’d need other funding, but I hate to make it all charity. That’s too uncertain for me.) Students will submit their resumes to the companies, who will then go through the interviewing process and eventually sign one year contracts with the students. The students would have mentors in their departments and would have to keep up their grades and meet with me every once in a while. In the end, the students would have degrees and job experience. Anyway, it’s just an idea. I really want to do something for these kids. They have so few prospects for life. I’ll have to think about this more. Goodness knows I have enough bus time to give it serious contemplation!

Andong Weekend

I spent the last three days in Andong, a medium-sized city in the mid-east with a reputation as a stronghold of traditional values and culture. They were holding a mask dance festival featuring countries from around the world (but focused on Asia in general and Korea in particular, of course.) The dances were really interesting and beautiful, actually, and the town was nice. It was one of the best festivals I’ve been to in terms of its offerings—it was huge!

I woke up very early Friday morning (I had it off, thank goodness!) and hightailed it to Hongsan to catch the 6:25 bus. I made the mistake of telling my host mother when I planned to leave and she even woke up to cook me breakfast! I almost missed the bus while eating it, but how could I walk out on her breakfast? It took me over seven hours and three buses to get to Andong—quite a haul, but I’m used to it, living in Hongsan, and I had A Prayer for Owen Meany to keep me company. The route was actually quite efficient, which made me happy. There’s nothing I like less than inefficiency, and travel is littered with it! Unfortunately, I wasted the rest of the day. I didn’t realize how the festival was set up (and I’m blaming my sleep-clouded brain, too…I hardly slept all last week!). I thought I had to pay 5,000 won for each performance, which was a little steep for me so I decided to take in the local sights for the afternoon instead and catch the Hahoe performance that evening (Hahoe is an area near Andong that has a special kind of mask dance). I was really excited to see some of the things in the area—a famous Confucian academy that is featured on the back of the chon won bill, several beautiful temples, an old Buddha statue that is supposedly THE symbol of Andong…I’d read about them all on the bus and they sounded wonderful. However, I quickly found that all the of them were in different directions and city buses ran only very infrequently, making them difficult to see on public transport, especially when time is a factor. I went to see Jebiwon Buddha, which was pretty cool, and also to an old shrine to a Chinese war god (one of only a few in the country)—it was closed; in doing so, I missed out on several dance performances. It was only when I went to the ticket booth to buy my Hahoe ticket for the 7:00 performance that I was told the ticket was good for a day. Oops. I was a little upset by that, but the performance made up for it. It was a really great combination of samulnori and dance, and since I love samulnori—the rhythm and grace of the drums always pleases me—and especially one particular player ;-), I was thoroughly entertained. I had forgotten how white makes me a celebrity in this country, though, and mistakenly sat in the front row. First, one of the characters (a butcher, apparently) tried to sell me some bull testicles and (I’m pretty sure) made some comments at my expense; then the fool called me and this other white lady upstage and made us DANCE. Actually, he first picked on this Korean lady, who then dragged the older white lady up. I was laughing at her when she jumped on me. It was so embarrassing—I’m sensitive about my (lack of) rhythm, and to move to samulnori with the slow swaying motions of this dance I’d never done before, in front of a large audience of Koreans (not to mention the cute samulnori player)—well, I hope they appreciated the gesture. I did get a little mask souvenir at the end. Just when I think I’m over Korea, the people grab me in again…I’m always so charmed by the little gestures.

Saturday was devoted to hiking. I went to Juwangsan, a small national park on the east coast, in about the middle of the country. It was over an hour away and the bus didn’t leave until 9:30, so I had no choice but to make a day of it, but I think it was a good choice. Hiking always settles me. I feel my sense of wonder renewed. Plus, it really was an awesome park. Mushrooms abounded (the area is known for songi mushrooms—those which grow only in pine tree areas) and the apples were delicious, too. People were friendly and surprisingly sparse (for Korea). Most of all, the trails were nice and the scenery astounding. It was the most like an American trail system I’ve come across in that the trails were mostly meandering dirt paths. It was not too strenuous, but enough for me (I realize now I’m out of shape again…I’ve been too distracted by travel!). I made a loop of most of the park, against the directions of the visitor center staff. I am much more hardcore than about any Korean I’ve come across when it comes to hiking, so people don’t realize what I can do. I think they also underestimate me because of my gender. I climbed two moderate mountains, both under 1000m, and at the second one I made some Korean friends from the Hyundai shipping division in Ulsan (a port town between Gyeongju and Busan in the southeast). I’m not really sure how or why I keep attracting these middle-aged men. I am pretty sure their intentions are good…perhaps it’s just that they are generally the only ones with the courage to approach me? At any rate, I have another hiking buddy who keeps calling me. These Korean phone conversations are so awkward for me, but this doesn’t seem to deter them. Anyway, I ate lunch with this group of about 10 people, along with my new friend, Kim Jong Gi. I didn’t have a real lunch, so I was very appreciative of their feast (though they did make me drink soju….). I shared my apples for dessert. They were all very nice. I am glad I’ve got the conversation basics down—I can tell people where I’m from, where I live, what I do…but when it comes to more in-depth convo, I’m lost. Somehow they still seem to enjoy me, since they keep calling. Again, I don’t understand it. I couldn’t find the trail I wanted to take after the peak that would take me in a loop around the park (and I wasn’t sure if I’d have time, after the lengthy picnic), so I backtracked along the ridge and then dropped into the main valley, which was breath-taking. There were a lot more people here, of course—the route wasn’t strenuous and it was very scenic—but I still enjoyed myself. I was essentially in a narrow canyon, surrounded by towering and unusually shaped rocks. (I’ve been thinking lately I should learn more about geology—I keep coming across interesting rocks, but I don’t know a thing about them!) I arrived at the bottom with a little time to spare before the last bus back to Andong at 5. Just as I was about to start browsing for mushrooms and apples, a middle-aged man (of COURSE!) waved me over to the table. I said I didn’t have time, but he protested—“Just five minutes!”—so I sat. My goal is to be adopted by as many Koreans as possible, even though it can get awkward with my lack of Korean skills, so I had to accept! It was a way to pass the time, at least. He was with three friends who were all pretty nice, and they were drinking mushroom makkoli (which I’d been eyeing, anyway, but couldn’t drink by myself!) and eating acorn jelly salad and pajeon and acorn pancake (sounds weird, maybe, but I like them all). So I had a few cups, talked to them a bit, and of course got the digits and the promise to go hiking together when I’m in Pohang (where they were from). I’m extending my friend base. I was just sad I didn’t manage to make a friend who could give me a ride to Andong! Both groups of people wanted me to go home with them (to continue festivities, presumably) and then go back in the morning. But all my stuff was in Andong in a room I’d not yet paid for, plus Susie was waiting for me, plus it could get weird to be stranded with drunk Koreans…so I caught the bus, laden with last-minute purchases of apples and mushrooms.

I was too late to see the fireworks that evening—I was disappointed—but Susie and I got to eat at the restaurant which had refused me the previous night because I was alone. It wasn’t as spectacular as I’d imagined, but was pretty good. A little meat-heavy, but still. And then we went to bed, as I was still catching up on sleep from the week.

(A side note: In browsing the channels on Friday night, I did come across the requisite porn channel and learned a new move. Korean porn is hysterical—I don’t see how ANYONE could get off the way they do it. Anyway, it involved running a dry paintbrush over a girl’s panty-clad bottom. She was moaning in ecstasy…what a faker!)

On Sunday, Susie and I took in the last of the festival. Armed with my new knowledge about performances, we went straight to the stage and managed to catch three performances—Japan, another Korea, and Indonesia. The Japanese performance was done by elementary and middle school students and was pretty good, considering their ages. They did all their own music, which was hauntingly beautiful, in my opinion, and of course danced. Some of them were too tentative, but there were at least two that were really talented dancers. The Korean performance was excellent—fast-paced, entertaining, and vibrant. They did their own music, too, of course. I still liked the Hahoe better, if only because it featured me J. I finished up with Indonesia, which was also fabulous, but sadly lacked live music. The dancers were good and the costumes colorful (which, as a color whore, I adored), but the music recording just didn’t cut it for me. And then I had to book it home. Three buses later, I was finally back and exhausted.

These trips are wearing me out...I’m going to have to take a rest sometime. But not in the foreseeable future. Here’s what’s coming up:

1. This weekend (Oct. 12-14): Odaesan
Nika and I are gonna hit up this national park in the northeast for a estrogen-pumped weekend of furious hiking. We plan to hike around the entire park and hopefully stay at a mountain hut. Finally, my sleeping bag and hammock will be useful!
2. Next weekend (Oct. 19-22): Fulbright conference in Gyeongju
Gotta go to the mandatory conference. However, I plan to go dirty and stinky after a morning hiking in Gyeongju National Park, one of my favorites because of all the old Buddhist relics littered around the mountain. I’m going to make a GREAT first impression on the other ETAs!
3. Oct. 25-28: Diamond Mountains in North Korea
Going north to see what are supposedly the most beautiful mountains in Korea. Hopefully I’ll finally see this fall foliage I’ve heard so much about. I’m PAYING to see it, anyway (we’re hitting the end of “peak” season and the prices for this Hyundai monopoly are RIDICULOUS).
4. Nov. 2-4: ???, but probably hiking somewhere
5. Nov. 9-11: Nika’s birthday celebration!

The post-break slump

It’s late and I’m still up. Again. This one-hour jet lag is really getting to me! Plus, I’ve been so busy, getting my life back together after being away for so long.

Coming back here has not been easy. I had so much difficulty getting home on Sunday night—I had to take an airport “limousine” (bus) to Daejeon and then a taxi home for a whopping 70,000 won. Considering I traveled across a third of the country, width-wise, it still doesn’t seem like a bad deal. At least I didn’t have to deal with trying to get back in the morning with classes to teach at ten. That would have been so stressful. I was upset with my co-teacher, too. I was hoping that she would pick me up to stay with her, or at the very least, pick me up in the morning. But no. She told me I should meet them at Gyeryeong, which is a city at least two bus rides and an hour of travel away from where I was in Daejeon, at some obscure gas station, at 7:40am. You would think she could be more helpful. So out of frustration and a desire to be home, I took a taxi. And then the cab driver tried to ask me for 10,000 more, even after I’d given him the address. It sure wasn’t my fault he didn’t know where it was! I didn’t mislead him! Oh, the travel trials associated with living in a tiny town. It’s exasperating sometimes. I definitely question my decision to continue living here sometimes. But then I think of the hassle of getting used to a new school and I think I made the right decision. Maybe.

I’ve felt surprisingly coherent at school, though perhaps uninspired. I think I might be getting bored with teaching. My heart’s not in it at the moment—it’s just something I have to do, and I’m happy when classes are canceled. Some attitude for a would-be teacher, right? Maybe it’s not the profession for me after all…or maybe it’s just ESL. What I look forward to these days are my weekend trips and my rapidly-approaching ten week PAID winter vacation. NOT my classes. I hope I can get back into it, or it’s going to be a loooong year.

On Monday night I decided to take a hike. I went up the trail that’s half an hour from my house; the one that climbs up rocks and gives me an excellent view of the paddies. And then, against my better judgment, having a clear view of the setting sun, I continued. Onto a trail I’d never done before. At one point I suddenly realized I couldn’t see well anymore and the trail had petered out. I couldn’t turn back because I’d gone too far, so there I was, thorn-whacking through unfriendly bramble with no clear idea of where it would end, in rapidly diminishing light. I was a little scared—not that I’d get lost, exactly, because I knew where the road generally was, but that I’d lose all the light and wouldn’t be able to find my way through the menacing overgrowth. My legs are destroyed by that stuff. I was bruised and bloodied by the end, but I did find the road, which I proceeded to run down. I refuse to run anymore, generally, but I made an exception in this case. I was an hour’s walk from home and so euphoric at finding the road that it hardly felt like work, though I certainly feel it now.

That night I realized my new green tea has some caffeine. For some reason, I was thinking that tea made you sleepy, even though it’s never had that effect on me. I decided to break in my gorgeous new tea set as I watched a bedtime episode of my new Kdrama, Dal Ja’s spring. I consumed a liter of tea and could not sleep afterwards. I’d also wrenched my back somehow in my bush-whacking, so lying down was excruciating. Life was getting pretty crazy. When did I lose my sense of reason, anyway?

On Tuesday afternoon I went to Jeonju to visit Janaki. I had Wednesday off and wanted to do something fun, even though I’d yet to catch up on home things. The thing about living in Hongsan is that you have plenty of time to catch up—there’s nothing else to occupy the night hours! But perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to make this week so incredibly busy. Now I’m already planning a weekend trip (I have Friday off, too) and I am exhausted just thinking about it. But how could I miss the Andong mask festival???

Anyway, Jeonju was fun. It’s not far, but I have to take a bus to Nonsan and then switch to a train, so depending on connections, it can take a while to get there. It was about three hours both ways this time. Janaki couldn’t meet until 6, so I walked all over town and stretched out my sore legs. We met downtown and then ate at a famous mandu (dumpling) restaurant. They all had meat, but I ate the kimchi ones, anyway. They don’t have TOO much meat. I have such a weakness for filled foods—tortellini, ravioli, stuffed mushrooms and peppers, etc.—how could I NOT love mandu? Then we had patpingsu at a cheesy dessert place and then went to Miller bar for beer. It was fun to catch up and share Taiwan experiences—Janaki went there last year and loved it, too.

Today a teacher at her school took us to a flower-arranging class and then out to lunch. Jeonju is famous for its bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables). It was SOOOOOOOOO delicious! The best bibimbap ever, with great side dishes, too! And shortly afterwards, I began the journey home. I am already tired thinking about tomorrow. Oh, school…why do you have to interrupt my fun?

MY TAI(wan)

It’s hard to be excited about being back in Korea when it involves cold weather and working. But I am trying to make the best of it. I am still so giddy from my travels that I’m not tired, though I’ve slept all of ten hours in the last sixty. It’s been a crazy few days, that’s for sure!

I really loved Taiwan. I wasn’t sure at first—it was an abrupt change from the comfort of Korea—but by the end, it had grown on me and it was difficult to leave. I could actually see myself living there. It was like tropical Korea—the people are nice and don’t bother tourists, the scenery is magnificent and hiking’s widely available, there’s amazing tea and good food…--and there are the bonuses of milder weather and better snack food. As in all my favorite tropical fruits (read: dragon fruit!), tea plums, jackfruit chips, moon cakes, and a rice cake/ice dessert that puts Korea’s patpingsu to shame. Oh, I loved it. Taiwan is definitely a possibility for the future. I could finally learn Chinese, as I’ve contemplated doing but thus far have wimped out, with my language ineptitude as an excuse. It would definitely be difficult—one of the things I struggled with at first was the difficulty of being illiterate again—but possible. Now that I’ve mastered ESL, it would be easy to work there and in my free time I could enjoy one of the most pleasant and least stressful countries I’ve visited. But this would not happen for a while, so I better not get too carried away. Who knew I’d grow to like Asia so much?

The trip was not as event-filled as I thought it would be, like my other trips have been, but it worked out well to stay around Taipei. Caitie got her fill of city life and Nika and I were able to do some day trips to other areas in the north. Taipei is THE transportation hub for the country—we were even told we couldn’t move from east to west without routing through Taipei! I have my doubts about this information and am sad we didn’t see some of these other things I planned on, but since I want to go back anyway…


Day 1 (Saturday, September 22)

I arrived around 3:30 and after a little bit of a hassle getting through slow slow slow customs and trying to find a bus (the first time my method of following the crowd didn’t work—they were Korean, so of course they were on tours!), I finally and relatively painlessly got downtown to the train station, where Nika was waiting for me. She’d gotten there the day before (lucky girl gets Fridays off!). We walked to a nearby tea house to kill some time while waiting for Caitie, but I was a little disappointed because it was a British tea house and didn’t even have Taiwanese tea! It felt stuffy and overpriced. Stupid Lonely Planet puts the weirdest things in their books. Who wants British tea in Taipei? Who wants steak in Taipei? Why do they mislead adventurers like us? Still, I was with Nika in Taipei, so it was fine.

We picked up some liquor at the Circle OK store below our hostel on the way back and settled in the room to wait for Caitie to show up. We couldn’t read any of the labels, so we chose on the basis of price (mid-range to cheap), picture (a cute smiley girl on a rosy background), and extras (a shot glass on top). I wasn’t expecting good, but this thing was FOUL. Even mixed with a substantial amount of tomato/fruit juice. I missed soju at this point.

Caitie showed up earlier than we expected, startling us and alerting the hotel manager to our devious intentions to room three in a two-person room. I don’t think he was a huge fan of us after this.

Then we hit the town. We tried to find this bar Mr. Lee (the hostel guy) recommended, but it was perhaps the lamest thing EVER, once we managed to find our way in the sporadic showers that limited visibility and willpower. It featured dinosaurs and was completely deserted. SOO not our place! So we headed to the club that sounded the most interesting, based on Lonely Planet (I was obviously not questioning the guidebook as much as I should have at this point). The club was no longer there and we were left to wander, following vague directions to clubs given by a police officer. We wandered into a random one—I later learned it was called 9%, for unknown reasons—and put down our $20 for all-you-can-drink entrance. This has got to be the coolest concept. No more magically disappearing money! You pay to enter, and then put your money away! The drink selection isn’t wide, but I was happy enough. I wonder how they can even make money, but I’m certainly not going to question it. And so the fun began. The “club” was very very small—the dance floor was about the size of my bedroom and the bar took up most of the other space—but we managed to have fun, aided in no small part, I’m sure, by our ever-present gin and limes! It was definitely different from the club scene in Korea. There, the guys are like molesters—they grab you from behind and don’t let go, and it takes some maneuvering to even catch a glimpse of the face (because physical attraction is oh-so-necessary when you can’t even talk to each other!)—but here, they were really shy. We had a lot of guys dancing around us, but none of them ventured close enough to even talk for a long time. It was exciting, actually. I felt like a star! I was wearing teacher clothes and the Taiwanese girls were decked out in bikini tops and hot shorts, yet we were surrounded. I definitely enjoy being a foreigner at times! Anyway, some did eventually talk to us. Things get a little foggy for me here. The drinks were kickin in. At one point, I ordered another gin and lime each for me and Caitie, and when I said “bigger” to the bartender, he misunderstood and poured in beer! The fact that I actually drank this foul concoction is probably a good indicator of how inebriated I was. The guy who was most enthusiastic in conversing (I later learned his name is Parson…a weird choice of an English name if I’ve ever heard one!) introduced me to his friend, who I enthusiastically talked to and danced with all the rest of the night. I don’t really remember much of this. I remember really being into him, but as I love everyone when I’ve been drinking, that’s not saying much. Meanwhile, Parson was trying his luck with Nika and Caitie was talking to an entirely different group of guys. All of us ended up at an apartment later (which I remember thinking was our hostel lounge…oops!). I wish I had been in a position to appreciate the awkwardness, as the guys we were with were not friends at all. I really don’t know how it came about. Thank goodness for Asian chivalry, or we might have been in trouble!

Welcome to Taipei.


Day 2 (Sunday, September 23)

We woke late, predictably. Caitie and I were precariously passed out on the top bunk—whose genius idea THAT was, I don’t know, but it worked well enough then. Caitie didn’t feel well, so she spent the day in bed while Nika and I wandered Taipei.

First we went out to lunch at a Hong Kong place, the Luckstar, on the recommendation of Mr. Lee. It was so crowded, but the food was really good. There were even side dishes, one of which was kimchi! It was a really expensive meal, but delicious. However, our meal was constantly interrupted by the pointed stares of a tiny girl. She was probably seven or eight and stared at us through the glass wall, about three inches away from our table. It was so bizarre. I didn’t think we were THAT interesting, especially in a big city! She was utterly fearless and kept staring even when we made faces at her and stared right at her face. So strange.

Then, after checking on Caitie, we went to the Jade Market and the Flower Market, two weekend markets right next to each other within walking distance of our hostel. They were nice to wander, though sometimes overpriced (for foreigners, at least). One woman quoted us 18,000 for a jade bracelet—about $600!! We did find some tea plums, which Nika had eaten before and loved. They are small plums marinated in tea and are soooo delicious. Worth going to Taiwan for them alone! We sampled a lot of food and eye-shopped a bit, but didn’t make any major purchases besides a little fruit, the tea plums, and some jackfruit chips (I’d eaten these in Vietnam and absolutely love them. Again, another plus for Taiwan!).

Afterwards, we braved the subway system. It’s not extensive, but does take you to many attractions in the Taipei area and helped us avoid taxis (expensive) and buses (complicated without knowledge of Chinese). We went to Longshan Temple, THE temple in Taipei. Because it was almost the Lunar Festival, there were a ton of people there, bringing a lot of food to offer the Buddha. There were people taking food, too, which we were tempted to do—there was a lot of good-looking things there!—but we figured the system, whatever it was, probably wasn’t foreigner-friendly. We also saw the world’s sluttiest six-year-old—an unexpected sight in a religious area. The temple was nice, though—very different from Korean temples in that it was more elaborate and ornate and massive—and it was fun to just sit and breathe it in. We tried to walk back home after that—it was only two subway stops—but we got lost in the midst of Pet Alley and ended up wandering in a circle. Oops.

Finally, we hit Taipei’s most famous night market, Shilan. It was wild and bright and delicious—food and clothes and snacks and drinks and earrings and people everywhere! I tried some bubble tea and patpingsu-esque dessert, but regrettably, I didn’t have the appetite for anything else. For someone who truly enjoys street food, like me, it was absolute heaven. I will be so heartbroken to leave Asia for this reason alone—what will I do without delicious snacks on every street corner???

At this point, we had a bit of crisis within the group. Nika and I wanted to move on—there were other places we wished to visit in Taiwan besides Taipei and we needed time to enjoy them—while Caitie wanted to take in more of Taipei. I didn’t realize beforehand that our interests would be so different. In writing, Caitie had seemed more indifferent to what we did and excited about my suggestions. The reality, as always, was different. We compromised and agreed to leave the following afternoon.

Day 2 closed early—we were three tired girls already! Before I went to bed, though, I discovered my Saturday night fling had not forgotten me and had sent me an email, after being unable to call. It was the cutest email ever. I am convinced I am destined to marry a foreigner


Day 3 (Monday, September 24)

Today I discovered my ATM card didn’t work. Not the best way to kick off a week in a foreign country. Luckily, Caitie offered to lend me money.

We took in cultural Taipei today, starting downtown and then moving out to the countryside before rushing back to catch our train to Hualien (a town on the eastern coast that is close to Taroko Gorge National Park, our next stop). We wandered around the area by our hostel for a little while and managed to stumble over the 2/28 Memorial Park—dedicated to the nearly 30,000 victims of government violence in a riot that started February 28, 1947. It was really beautiful and peaceful, as all Taiwanese parks seem to be. I could just wander from park to park in Taipei and be perfectly content—each of them seems like the nicest place I’ve ever been!

We also went to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, an imposing structure built for the former Chinese National Party leader and Taiwanese president. Unfortunately, it was undergoing renovation, but the view of the surrounding area was pretty superb on its own, too.

To end Taipei day, we went to Chihnan Temple on the mountainous outskirts of town. Lonely Planet’s description of the temple had intrigued me, so I had to see for myself. It reads as follows: “If you’re the type who feels that the journey is part of the experience of visiting a temple [I am], then Chihnan Temple is for you. This 1891 edifice is in the Wenshan District, about 19km southeast of central Taipei, and you have to climb 1200 steps to reach it. It’s said that each step adds 20 seconds to your life—that’s over six hours just for going up!” Unfortunately, we had trouble finding the stairs and accidentally took a taxi to the top instead. But no matter—the temple compound was excellent! I love Chinese-style temples. They are so ornate and elaborate and almost-gaudy, plus the liberal use of scarlet and gold really appeals to me. Much as I like Korean temples, they just cannot compare. Plus, the ones in Taiwan were HUGE!! The scale itself was awe-inspiring! From this temple, we had an incredible view of the mountainside rushing forth to meet the city. A combination of the old and the new, for sure…we could even see Taipei 101! We managed to find the stairs on the way down and enjoyed a leisurely descent before heading back downtown for our train.

Taiwan trains are nice. At least as nice as regular Korean trains. I love trains anyway, but I was quite pleased. I had a window seat and the view was incredible. I even saw the sunset over the sea.

It was raining when we arrived, but we managed to find a hostel very quickly. Or rather, one found us…a lady was soliciting people on the street in front of the bus station. We were happy to oblige and escape the wet, though I dragged Caitie out again quickly enough to find dinner. It was pouring and the tile sidewalks were slippery, but I was so hungry! I guess I’ve gotten used to violent rains, too…they never deter me anymore. We couldn’t find the place listed in Lonely Planet (as usual…), but we managed to find something edible to sustain me until the morning. Good thing, too, because I was starting to feel surly.


Day 4 (Tuesday, September 25)

Here’s what I wrote about the day in my journal:

Today I am irritable and I don’t know why. It’s hard traveling in threes, I think. Plus we’re all tired…and Taiwan’s been hard. I can’t adjust. I don’t know where or what to eat. I don’t know how to say or ask anything. I don’t know the customs or etiquette. And I’m illiterate. It’s frustrating, when I’ve been so capable in Korea, to be suddenly a clueless infant again. I wish I knew Chinese. I will be so happy to be home again, I think, where I can communicate the basics again, though I do like it here. It’s a tropical country without the hassles. No one tries to rip you off and it’s so safe! And there’s my love, tropical fruits…jackfruit chips and dragonfruit! I think it’s because it’s relatively well-to-do…no one is desperate to take my money. It’s nice. I detest the whole tourist guilt-trap thing, and it’s absent here. And the hiking and nature—the environment is really emphasized and appreciated here, by everyone. Essentially, Taiwan is a slightly cheaper, much more tropical Korea, but in Chinese (which I can’t wrap my head around…).

It’s funny how impressions change. Just a few days later, I was loving Taiwan, and I had a hard time adjusting back to Korea! Who would have thought, from this entry?

Today we went to Taroko Gorge. It was a trifle disappointing—turns out all the trails were closed due to typhoons—but we still made a good day of it, walking up the main canyon road and taking in what sights we could. It was quite different from what I expected as a hiking experience, anyway…a main cross-island highway ran through the middle, right by the roaring river, and short trails ran off from there. You’d need a car to do it properly…walking along the road takes too much time (and is not a whole lot of fun, considering the small shoulder and the rushing traffic) and bus tours are too frenzied and don’t allow time for actual hiking, only picture-taking. Still, we did what we could with the information we had.

We did do one small hike, even though the information at the ranger station indicated that all were closed. There wasn’t a sign at the trailhead, so we figured we should at least try it. And it was perhaps a little dangerous with all the moisture. The path was made of stone, so it was very slippery and treacherous in places. But it was definitely the highlight of the day. It began on an exhilaratingly high rope suspension bridge, which looked like suicide from below but was completely safe. The path took us past two old pavilions, which, though ill-kept, were beautiful in the Chinese way, sparkling with vibrant red. Nika even rang the bell in one—a sure-fire way to keep our trespassing under wraps! The trail concluded with a descent through a couple slippery caves to a beautiful structure where all the bus tourists were taking pictures. It was right beside a rushing mountain stream that meandered in and out of the mountainside and flooded the platform with its swollen waters. It was pretty spectacular…and wading through it was invigorating, physically and mentally.

The rest of the day was anticlimactic. We did sample some good snacks at the roadside rest stop—dragon fruit and guava (which we mistook for apple) and roasted sweet potato. Man, I love snacks in this country! We climbed further on the road, but it didn’t take us anywhere remarkable. Everything else was too far to see by foot. The swirling muddy typhoon-swollen river below was mesmerizing, however, as were the falls that peeked out from the mountains from time to time. We decided to turn around at the next big rest area. We met an interesting family there—a man, his wife, and two sons, who apparently now live in America but used to live in Taiwan. The man kept talking to us about random things and explaining the area to us, but his wife kept pulling him away. It was funny. I was hoping they’d help us out with transportation, but no such luck.

That night, we found a shaba shaba restaurant and feasted on vegetable soup. It was good, but so hot! I burned my mouth horribly and it hurt the rest of the week. Pretty remarkable, considering the mouth is the fastest-healing part of the body.


Day 5 (Wednesday, September 26)

Today we headed back to Taipei. We’d originally wanted to go to Sun Moon Lake in the center of the country, but were emphatically told it would be IMPOSSIBLE—we’d have to route through Taipei. None of us realized travel around such a small country could be so difficult. Since Caitie wanted to spend more time in Taipei and there was enough to do there to occupy all of us, we decided to head back and base the rest of our travels out of the city. I was more than a little sad about this. I wanted to AVOID the city, not spend my entire vacation there. But what can you do under such time constraints?

We arrived mid-afternoon and went straight to the National Palace Museum, where we spent a couple hours before it closed for the day. It was a pretty neat place—it housed essentially all Chinese art, which had been entrusted to the Nationalist Party in the fighting back in the 1940s and thus ended up in Taiwan. I wish we hadn’t been so rushed, but I’m glad I got a chance to see it. I have the feeling I’m more of a museum-goer than either of my companions, so perhaps they are glad we DIDN’T have so much time…I’m sure they would have lost patience with me! I really liked the ceramic and painting exhibits. Chinese art is really beautiful and I’d like to see more of it. The colors and lines really appeal to me.

That evening I was still feeling fierce, so I took off on my own to walk around the city. I needed some time to myself. I don’t know if it was because I am so used to being by myself, or if it was the difficulty of coming face-to-face with a friend I haven’t seen in over a year, but things were rocky with Caitie. I was inexplicably on edge for a few days and couldn’t seem to shake free.

The walk was nice but a little damp. I basically made a big loop of the area we were staying in. I tried to find some of the old city gates (unsuccessful, or they are really unspectacular!) and a botanical garden (successful, but not all that impressive in the dark). I did walk by many of the attractions we’d already visited—Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, for one—and it was interesting to see how the city fit together. I’m a big fan of walking around new places. It’s the best way to get a feel of life there and allows me to become oriented. Public transportation, even above ground, can be disorienting, distances melt together, and you miss a lot rolling around. Even though it was night, I was able to get a bit of a feel for the area and I felt accomplished. And a little less frustrated.


Day 6 (Thursday, September 27)

Today we went to Pinglin, a tea-growing area that had been high on our list of places to visit. It was much much smaller and much much slower than I expected, but I did learn a lot about the process of growing and making tea and made some important tea related purchases—namely, over a kilo of the local oolong tea and a Travel Buddy, which is a water bottle with a special tea container that is my new best friend.

Unfortunately, Caitie left us rather quickly. She decided, halfway across town on the subway, that she’d rather do city things that day. So Nika and I were left on our own and, we discovered later, without a guidebook. Oops.

We still managed to get there without any major problems, though the bus was an hour or so late and we were on the verge of taking an expensive taxi when it arrived. We passed through some absolutely stunning mountain scenery on the way—Taiwan is really so very beautiful—and then we were left in this absolutely tiny, picturesque town, where there was no sign of the bicycle rides through the tea fields we’d been promised in the guidebook. We were crushed, but the tea museum was excellent, at least.

Lunch was, again, a disappointment. We stopped for a little bite at a random restaurant run by a seemingly friendly older woman. She was incredibly helpful at first, but suddenly seemed to grow irritated by us. When we tried to pay, she kept repeating the numbers in Mandarin, more clearly and loudly each time, as if she thought we understood perfectly but were just trying to be difficult. And then we decided to buy her tea and she tried to charge Nika twice for hers, making a huge fuss and claiming she had never paid her! She eventually backed down, but we had enough for the day and decided to head back to Taipei.

We were hungry after the long journey back, so we went to Cha for Tea, a teahouse and restaurant that utilized tea in all its foods. We wanted to try it all along and finally had time that evening, though we missed Caitie and had to go by ourselves. We had Oriental Beauty, a Taiwanese tea that was good but a little too strong for my taste—I learned in our tea education that day that I prefer lightly fermented teas (like green tea), while Oriental Beauty is a heavily fermented oolong. We also had tea dumplings, which I LOVED. I don’t know what it is—I just love foods with filling! Ravioli, tortellini, dumplings, breads…anything that has a filling, I am bound to love. It’s too bad so many of them have meat, when they could so easily just be vegetables! I’m so disappointed in Korean dumplings (mandu) in this respect—there are very few places where you can find them without meat. (Sometimes I cheat and have kimchi dumplings, which generally only have a little pork. I can’t resist.)

Then we went to Xinmending, the hipster district, to look for fruit for our hike the next day. (Nika had bought some here the night before.) The fruit ladies were initially elusive and we were forced to sample mooncakes at several bakeries while we were on the fruit hunt, but we finally ran across them as we were about to leave and bought some guavas (my new obsession—with the Taiwanese seasoning salt, they’re so refreshing!) and dragonfruit.

I could hardly sleep that night, though…we hadn’t seen Caitie all day, and she didn’t come back until the wee hours of the morning. I was so worried!


Day 7 (Friday, September 28)

Caitie finally burst in sometime in the early morning. She didn’t wake up when we did, so we left her to sleep and entertain herself while we climbed Yangmingshan, a national park very near Taipei.

We had breakfast at our hotel (included in the price) and this time, we were able to successfully order a REAL meal. The day before, we received thick slices of disturbingly fluorescent yellow “toast” and tea…definitely NOT delicious, and definitely NOT a balanced meal. And then we saw that everyone else (non-whites) got a heaping bowl of rice porridge and three side dishes of various vegetables. Nika and I were determined to get the authentic Taiwanese breakfast, but it was difficult. The girl at the restaurant was confused and couldn’t seem to understand that we didn’t want their Caucasian special. She kept taking the revolting toast out of the freezer. I am not sure why this was an issue—is it really possible that most white tourists prefer the toast? How is this possible? But presumably there must be some established precedent for her to be confused when we wanted something different. At any rate, we were finally successful and it was sooo good. I don’t know that I’ve ever ordered a better breakfast.

We took a city bus to Yangmingshan. It wasn’t a strenuous hike—in fact, the park seemed more motor-friendly than any I’ve ever been in, with roads zig-zagging everywhere and heavy car and moped traffic—but it was nice to get out of the city and stretch our legs for a while. Fog quickly descended upon us as we rose, though, cutting visibility to virtually nothing. I always love the view at the top, so this was a disappointment, but what can you do? We saw some interesting wildlife along the way…first a HUGE snake halfway up the mountain, then some killer bees. I didn’t see the snake until Nika shrieked. I’m not sure how I missed it—it was on the trail—but somehow I didn’t see the six-foot snake until we nearly stepped on it. THAT was frightening. Unfortunately, no picture…we ran away rather quickly, and kept seeing phantom snakes on the trail after that. Not a big snake fan. Once we reached the top (a whoppin’ 1120m), I met my second friend, who stung me viciously in the arm as I posed for a picture with the sign. Needless to say, we didn’t linger! My arm swelled and turned pink and I was actually pretty worried about it, but I’m still alive now, so I guess it all worked out.

That night, we ate out at a great vegetarian restaurant (they’re abundant in Taipei, fortunately) and then Caitie and I went to Taipei Eye, a dance performance Nika recommended (she’d gone the previous Friday). It was pretty incredible—fast paced acrobatics, stunts, and dancing for a couple hours. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.


Day 8 (Saturday, September 29)

Today was the most exciting and fun day we had in Taiwan. We were finally back together and determined to have a really great last day in the country, before we had to head back to work and non-tropical reality (though Nika’s co-teacher claims that with global warming, Korea is becoming subtropical. This I doubt.).

After some minor transportation difficulties, we were on our way to Jiafen, a tiny coastal town recommended to us by both Lonely Planet and a friend of Nika’s. And it was a great little place! It basically consisted of a long, winding, snack-filled alley featuring the world’s largest mushrooms, the best patbingsu EVER, delicious ddok-like delicacies, frozen yogurt-filled rice cakes, and other tantalizing morsels to sample for FREE. I really think Taiwan has the best snacks of anywhere I’ve ever visited. If I lived there, I don’t know if I’d ever eat a real meal! There were also cute knickknacks, like chopsticks and other handcarved items, paintings, clothes, and so on. The atmosphere was positively magical, even with the dreary skies.

Jiafen was also where we went to the area’s oldest tea house and sipped on High Mountain Oolong on a picturesque deck overlooking the mountains and ocean. This was just what I was expecting from a tea country like Taiwan, but it had been surprisingly difficult to find. I mean, the first tea house I went to had only English teas, for goodness sake! It was so relaxing and peaceful—just the way to end a trip together. This was also where I bought my authentic Taiwanese tea set, which I now use at LEAST daily. I really loved the tea house. I could easily have bought a few more tea sets, and definitely some more tea! I guess that’s another reason to go back J.

Nika and Caitie also convinced me to buy a dress while we were shopping in Jiafen. I tried it on on a whim and though I wasn’t too impressed at first, I was won over by its versatility. I am a real sucker for multipurpose items. I always feel like I’m getting such a great deal and they generally make for less clutter. Hence my collection of zip-off pants, skirt/ponchos, and dress/skirt/shirts. This dress had four different looks: a long dress or a long skirt, and then a shorter dress or shorter skirt with the ties done on the insides (which made it poof out). It was a perfect item for Asian living, as it was billowy and not very revealing, even in its shortest look. It is now my favorite article of clothing. I was very surprised when the saleswoman showed me the skirt possibilities, however…she just pulled it down to my waist in the middle of the hut that served as a store, much to the amusement of middle-aged female onlookers. I was so embarrassed!

Then it was time to head back to the city to try to meet Penny (with whom I’d been exchanging emails all week) and get ready for a wild night out (the real reason I relented and bought the dress). The train ride back was exceptionally crowded and Nika and I had to stand. Feeling the excitement of a day well-spent and in anticipation of a night of fun-filled dancing, we listened to her ipod, danced, and lip-synched in the isle, much to the amusement of some high school boys who we caught staring and even recording us with their phones! Too funny.

Penny came to our hostel when he finished work and though things were awkward at first—we’re both shy—we had a good time, I think. He took me to dinner at the Taipei 101 food court, where he fretted over dining possibilities for a vegetarian, and then met Nika and Caitie for drinks at the Mint, a nearby classy lounge bar. (He paid—what a gentleman!) And then we went clubbin’ at Lava, which, in retrospect, I think is my favorite club of all time. They played some great hip hop, the dance floor was large enough to move, the atmosphere was classy, the people were nice…what more could you ask for? I probably haven’t been to enough clubs to make a real judgment, though. We did start the dancing here, for which I am proud. According to Penny, Taiwanese people love to dance, but are shy. Therefore, they hesitate to move out onto the dance floor proper, but hover on the fringes. We headed out, first drinks in hand, as soon as I heard “Goodies,” my all-time fave hip hop song. We were awkwardly alone for a minute or so, and then the party was on. It was awesome. I fell in love a little bit with Penny that night and made quite a dramatic scene when the time came to part—as in, I forcefully declared I hated goodbyes, thrust him in a taxi, and then squatted behind a pillar and wept violently for several minutes. Ninety percent of me expected him to come rushing back, most likely with flowers, but of course, in the real world no one does this. So I went to bed forlorn and frustrated.


Day 9 (Sunday, September 30)

Today is goodbye to a country I’ve grown to love. It has everything I treasure—mountains, sea, warm weather, tea, tropical fruits, delicious eats, enticing snacks, hiking, beauty, serenity…the place has captured my heart.

We woke up early and were all a bit of a wreck from the festivities of the night before. Nika had to leave right away to catch her flight, but I had time for another stop at Cha for Tea with Caitie before I had to go to the airport. I stocked up on more tea and had a last taste of devastatingly delicious tea dumplings before we parted. It was bittersweet.

When I think about the places I’ve visited in my life, I suppose I fall in love with all of them at least a little bit. There are so many wonderful things about foreign places and though I’ve never thought of myself as an optimist, I suppose I have a tendency to overlook the inconveniences and focus on the delights particular to the places I visit. But still, Taiwan was special. I could definitely go back. I AM going back!