Happy Birthday to me!
Chocolate cake and gifts from Paulie :)
Beautiful, colorful Seoraksan
The Buddha
Paulie, Ara, and Courtney on the bridge
Meditating monkHappy 28 to me!! Though I was rather reluctant to turn 28, it was a great birthday weekend. Friday night after work Paul surprised me with a dark room (lit only by the soft glow of birthday candles), Etta James' "At Last" playing on the ipod, chocolate cake, and birthday presents. Scored the latest Over the Rhine album, a book of contemporary Korean poetry, and a really hilarious (bad English) birthday card.
Saturday morning we headed to Seoraksan National Park with Kelsey, Ara, and Ara's friend Courtney (who was in town visiting). We got on the bus and waded through the sea of cars to the park--which was packed. We saw so many whities there! Holy cow, it was like being in Itaewon (foreigner central in Seoul). But it was a gorgeous sunny day and the colors were outstanding. We met up with Becca and Kunal (who had just scaled Ulsanbawi), and headed toward Bisondae and the cave (Geumgangul). We left Becca, Kunal, and Kelsey to enjoy some squid and kimchi pancake (and regain their strength). It was lovely to be walking around on such a beautiful day.
Geumgangul had a lot of steep stone and steel stairs, but not nearly as many as Ulsanbawi (800+!). At the top we ran into Ashley and Steve, two other local English teachers. After snapping some shots of the surrounding mountains, we headed up to the cave. At the top we met up with a group of teachers from Seoul (one even from Gurnee, IL!) and chatted with them. At the top, inside the cave, there is a small area at the back to honor the Buddha (and a few monks up there who sell souvenirs and make sure no one falls off the stairs). The view from up there was absolutely fantastic, what with the jagged peaks, the broccoli rainbow of trees, and the sunlight streaming in.
After Seoraksan, we all headed downtown to introduce Courtney to our favorite food--gamjatang! She really got into our beloved pork spine soup. Then we headed to Ara's to play rummi 500, eat up his Twizzlers, and digest our spicy savory dinner.
Saturday morning we headed to Seoraksan National Park with Kelsey, Ara, and Ara's friend Courtney (who was in town visiting). We got on the bus and waded through the sea of cars to the park--which was packed. We saw so many whities there! Holy cow, it was like being in Itaewon (foreigner central in Seoul). But it was a gorgeous sunny day and the colors were outstanding. We met up with Becca and Kunal (who had just scaled Ulsanbawi), and headed toward Bisondae and the cave (Geumgangul). We left Becca, Kunal, and Kelsey to enjoy some squid and kimchi pancake (and regain their strength). It was lovely to be walking around on such a beautiful day.
Geumgangul had a lot of steep stone and steel stairs, but not nearly as many as Ulsanbawi (800+!). At the top we ran into Ashley and Steve, two other local English teachers. After snapping some shots of the surrounding mountains, we headed up to the cave. At the top we met up with a group of teachers from Seoul (one even from Gurnee, IL!) and chatted with them. At the top, inside the cave, there is a small area at the back to honor the Buddha (and a few monks up there who sell souvenirs and make sure no one falls off the stairs). The view from up there was absolutely fantastic, what with the jagged peaks, the broccoli rainbow of trees, and the sunlight streaming in.
After Seoraksan, we all headed downtown to introduce Courtney to our favorite food--gamjatang! She really got into our beloved pork spine soup. Then we headed to Ara's to play rummi 500, eat up his Twizzlers, and digest our spicy savory dinner.
posted by streetwise at 5:15 AM
1 Comments:
Sounds like you had a great time Aub. The cake looked great. Glad to hear from you today, and sorry if I sounded a bit distracted (because I was)
3:42 PM
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