climbing Mt. Apsan.

This past weekend brought the most beautiful weather I have seen thus far in Daegu.  Clear blue skies, warmer temperatures, and the timing of the weekend was perfect.  Rather than be stuck in my classroom during this phenomenal weather, I was able to go hiking with my friend Holly (side note: I appreciate her friendship so much and know this adventure would be so different if I hadn't met her! I'm grateful for her! :] ).  She lives near a large mountain, so naturally, we decided to hike it on Saturday.  We started out at about 2pm and just started walking toward the mountain.  Just walking without knowing where we are going tends to be a common action with us and has let to some great adventures.  Mt. Apsan did not let us down.

so we found this path and kept going - every sign was in korean and there was no map but never fear, a very jolly older korean man stopped us and was excited to speak some English.  He then told us there were 3 trails - flat and easy to the right, windy to the left, and steep in the middle.  After suggesting that we do one of the easier trails, we thanked him and kept walking.  What was the decision when we got to the fork in the road? the steep trail of course.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the beginning of this trail because it was seriously SO steep. It began as ribbed concrete as to give better traction and up, up, up we went!  Something you should know about Koreans and when they hike: they take it very seriously.  Legit hiking boots, jackets, backpacks, and hiking stick things (I don't know technical terms, I do minimalist hiking) surrounded us.  Most people we saw hiking were well over the age of 50 and I'll even admit that they may have passed us with little to no difficulty.  The trail came to a point where we weren't sure if we were at someone's house (I'm still not sure what that was) but after looking confused for a few minutes, we "asked" a bicycle man who was resting which way to go.  By "ask" I mean that Holly pointed up the mountain and said "this way?" and he just smiled and nodded.  He kept us going on that path too - we paused to rest (it was steep I tell you!) and he apparently could still see us because he yelled "ya! ya!" and kept pointing.  On we went.

trailblazers.

a man told us to smell this. I think it might have been a joke, because I was leaning off a large rock treacherously.

After passing a full on gym in the middle of the mountain, having great laughs and telling stories to each other, we made it to the top of Mt. Apsan.  It was a gorgeous day and we were able to hike in t-shirts - definitely the first day that I've done that in South Korea!

did we miss the pink day memo?

view from the top

It was at this spot that we met our second batch of Korean friends of the day.  The man who took our picture at the top of the mountain talked to us for a little bit and gave us delicious hard candy! I know, I know, don't take candy from strangers, but they were definitely our friends at that point! We decided to adventure down a different path to reach the base of the mountain yet again.  Luckily and semi-surprisingly, we made it without a hitch!! No getting lost on the mountain and having to make beds of leaves or eat berries to survive. Our first hiking adventure in Daegu - definitely a success.

temple at the base of Mt Apsan.

Because we are so obviously photogenic, we asked an older Korean man to take our picture on the bridge and were very surprised to hear his English skills.  He was phenomenal! After taking our picture, we stood and talked to him for quite a few minutes until he asked us to sit on a bench with him and have a chat.  He informed us that he was 79 years old (but obviously 79 yrs young!) and he used to run up the mountain every day when he was younger.  He has traveled to both the US and Canada which made us both happy and was basically a fascinating person to talk to. Side Note: Being stared at for being a foreigner is a constant in Korea and they do it unabashedly - you get used to it. However, because we are foreigners and we were talking to a Korean, it was Stare City.  Anyway, back to our conversation.  Mr. Huh, I'm not joking, is a networking paradise.  He has connections all over the city and gave us his phone numbers so that we may meet up with him again so that he can practice his English (which is already wonderful) and we can have an old Korean friend! So fun.

Hungry from hiking, we finished our adventure by visiting a little place that Holly had heard had great light meals.  The man working there gave us fairly good descriptions in English of the food options and it was so delicious and reasonably priced!  Mine was some type of meat (I seriously have no idea what it was because he said it and I just said, sure, that one") surrounded by rice all wrapped in seaweed.  This is revolutionary.  Before I came to SKorea I hated seaweed.  I would have to hold back a gag when I even smelled it. Now, only a month after moving here, I not only can tolerate the smell, but will voluntarily eat it in combination with other wonderful foods.

Let me just say that it was SO refreshing to be outside in God's creation once again.  Sitting inside and working at a school isn't bad by any means, but I absolutely love being outside and soaking in the sun and nature and just relaxing.  I look forward to many more mountainous adventures in the very near future.  Maybe you should too - go climb a mountain or at least go for a walk outside. you'll enjoy it.