Welcome, deer friends, to the second month of 2019! If you're still here with me, thank you for reading. This post is brought to you by jazz music and gigantic mountains, taking me to previously unexplored heights metaphorically and literally. Speaking of metaphors, you may need to find some hiking boots for this mountainous post. I think it's the longest one I've written. It begins with some pleasant, flat ground, then slowly builds until we're on top of a mountain, and then it ends with a random assortment of... post-hike snacks? I'm taking this metaphor too far. Anyway, think carefully before putting on your footwear for this journey - dancing shoes? Hiking boots? Whatever you choose, let's wander together. ^_^
On Sat Feb 2, I went to a potluck and dance class at Swing Family. I'd brought banana chocolate chip muffins, and there were also cookies, crackers, oranges, soda, and Vita500. I really enjoyed (admittedly probably creepily) watching people take their first bite of my baking and seeing their faces light up. I must've been a baker in another life - I love experiencing culinary compersion. After the class, we made our way to the Boogie Woogie dance hall for social dancing. Swing Dancing in Korea 101: Thus far, I've found that each swing dance bar in Korea has a similar social dance structure. The doors open around 7:30-8:00pm, it gets properly busy an hour after that. At approximately 9:30pm or 10:00pm, the DJ plays a specific "birthday jam" song which signals that it's time to celebrate the people in the community who had their birthdays that week. The birthday guys and gals stand together, facing the crowd, and lines begin to form in front of them. Then they dance... a lot. When that's finished, everyone forms a huge circle called the "jam circle". Anyone can enter the jam circle at any time, and it's like a spotlight for new, developing dancers or for the old pros who just want to show off and let loose in front of the community. On this Saturday night, as I stood at the periphery of the newly-formed jam circle, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see my teacher, Min Shik (민식쌤). Last week, he had taken one of the students from our class into the circle; I felt so incredibly honored that he wanted to bring me into it this week. We pushed inward through the crowd, stood in anticipation at the inner edge of the circle, listened to the crowd count out the previous couple... and jumped in. Suddenly being in the spotlight was thrilling and terrifying. Everyone's clothes seemed brighter and blurrier, and all I could focus on was Min Shik and the music. I felt the adrenaline like a fire in my lungs, in my mind, in my heart. Then, rather abruptly, it was over. We spun out of the circle and another couple seamlessly replaced us. Although I was shaking for a while afterwards, it was less scary and more fun than my first time in front of a crowd at Fiesta, where I didn't know anything about swing dancing. Small steps. :) Mountains: The next day, on Feb 3, I woke up at 6:15 am and began the most whimsical trip I've ever been on: I went to Sokcho with Joe. It was a grey, rainy, moody morning. We walked around the bus station amidst early-morning travelers and sipped some hot coffee. Once we were on the bus, I put in some headphones and fell asleep watching the raindrops streak down the window. The rain was still falling when we arrived. The umbrella got some heavy use that first day. As we wandered the rainy streets, the first thing we decided to do was eat at a famous restaurant called 88 Saengseon Gui where the employees were almost entirely foreigners. At this restaurant, you can only order one thing: BBQ seafood for 14,000 won. The employees cooked it for us on a grill in the center of the table. The line to get in was long, but they flew around the restaurant and were able to move people through extremely efficiency. The grilled fish was fresh and delicious (oh gosh, try saying that three times fast). After that, we explored a gigantic market. It was yet another sensory overload of sights and smells, spices and fruit and fish. At one point, we saw some mysterious brown dough balls being heated up on a skillet and had absolutely no idea what they were. The menu said 수수뿌꾸미 (susubugumi), but neither of us had heard of that before. So, out of sheer curiosity, we decided to wait and buy some to discover what they were. As we waited, an enormous line formed behind us, which only added to the mystery. It was clearly very popular, whatever it was. The man cooking the dough balls manoeuvred them expertly around the metal grill and the balls began to look like pinkish purple pancakes. He placed some dark purple pellet things into the center of the pancakes, deftly wrapped the dough around them, and handed them to us in cups. We took shelter under a big rainbow umbrella and took our first tentative bites. It was sweet and doughy! We discovered that they were sweet red bean paste-filled things similar to hotteok. But they were much better than hotteok. If you ever see these things, get in line immediately because they are certainly worth the wait. Then we stumbled upon and rode a ferry across a tiny stretch of water to Abai Village, which was... kind of underwhelming and surprisingly empty. We essentially had the whole island to ourselves, so we walked past the steely grey ocean, poked a starfish, kept away from some sketchy-looking traditional Korean food, saw a fisherman's tiny tent, and mostly wondered where we'd wander next. Off in the distance, we spotted a traditional Korean gazebo that was perched atop a hill overlooking the ocean. We decided it was a good destination and began to walk, carrying all our luggage, down the rain-dampened streets and across a huge blue bridge. We crossed a bright blue bridge and arrived at a little market at the bottom of the hill where people were selling deep fried food and live fish. There were, in fact, two gazebos: the one on top of the hill that we saw from far away, and another at the bottom that was perched at the edge of the ocean. The bottom one had a marble bridge leading out to it. It also had lights lining the bottom that slowly changed colour. As in, it was a veritable rainbow bridge. We stood in that seaside gazebo for a long time, watching the waves crash against the rocks below. Then Joe saw a red lighthouse in the distance and we decided to visit it, too. We ventured down a long pier and by the time we reached the lighthouse, it was very dark and there were no other people around. It had just started raining very lightly, like a fine mist, so we quickly took some hipster photos and decided to get something warm to eat and drink. Dinner was at a hangover soup place run by a very friendly elderly man who gave me some instant coffee for free. We bused home and slept in "traditional Korean lodgings", which I discovered meant sleeping on blankets directly on the floor. Thankfully, the blankets were thick and the floor was heated, so it warmed me right to my chilled bones and I fell asleep immediately. On Feb 4, we slept in late, then began walking beside the road toward Seorak mountain (설악산). We ate lunch at a place that was both someone's home and a restaurant; check out the pictures below to see what it looked like. :) We chose a Korean pancake and bibimbap and they were both phenomenal. The couple that ran the restaurant asked if they could take our photo and put it up on the wall, where there were several other pictures of foreigners who had been lucky enough to eat at their restaurant. So we're now immortalized at this tiny, lovely restaurant outside of Seoraksan national park. :) Also, ohmygosh, Seoraksan national park. Even though it was winter, I enjoyed being there so, so much. There were several hikes to choose from of various difficulties and lengths. For our first hike, we chose a waterfall observatory, which began as an easy hike through a forest path and ended with a moderately challenging ascent of a few hundred stairs. That one was fun because we got to cross a suspension bridge. The water below it was frozen, so naturally we found a really big rock and dropped it off the bridge when we were alone. Astoundingly, it didn't break through the ice! Then we took a cable car to the top of a massive mountain that was still covered in snow. At the top, the wind was so shockingly cold that it took my breath away. The view was stunning, and it was fun running around on the rocks and looking out over the mountain range, but because of the cold air and the setting sun, our time up there was pretty short. We ate Burger King for dinner, then fell asleep once more. Feb 5 (happy birthday, AJ!) was an early start as we rushed to Sunrise Beach for photos of the sunrise. See the gallery below. :) We ate breakfast at a convenience store, which was surprisingly pleasant and memorable; we had instant oatmeal and sweet coffee and stood watching the sun rise over the ocean. Then we retreated back to the room for a nap since we had woken up preposterously early to see the sunrise. Then it was off to the park once more. This time, we passed a massive bronze Buddha statue, where people were wearing socks and bowing reverently. Our hike that day was Ulsanbawi Rock and it was both a long hike and my favourite one. The beginning was an exceptionally easy walk on a paved sidewalk. Then it turned into an easy, relatively flat dirt path that wound through the forest and ran alongside a babbling brook. Along the way, there was a peaceful temple that had a truly ancient stone bridge and crumbling stone steps where we fed a chipmunk an almond. Then the path became slightly more difficult, ascending gently until it arrived at yet another temple. This temple was actually a cave that had been carved into the mountainside, and there was a beautiful white Buddha statue inside it. Joe was braver than me and drank out of a communal drinking fountain just outside the door. Also outside the temple was the famous, immovable rock Heundeulbawi, which is a supposedly immovable Volkswagen Beetle-sized rock that sits on top of a house-sized rock. There were many people attempting and failing to push it over. The house-sized rock had innumerable carvings on it in both traditional Chinese and Hanja. We sat on it and ate some lunch, watching people come and go and drink the fountain water and push on the rock. Then we continued to the next check-point: a small outcropping of rocks that were supposed to be the best place to listen to the mountains sing. Yes, sing! Ulsanbawi is special because when the wind blows over the rock faces, they make musical howling sounds. They're the largest wind instrument in the world, haha. We tried to get some recordings, but the wind blowing across the microphone totally drowned out the mountain's sounds. After that, the hike was not very pleasant at all. It turned into very large, uneven stone steps and eventually became man-made stairs that clung to the side of the mountain like scaffolding. They were treacherously steep and the view down was dizzying. We took quite a few breaks on the way up those. And then we were at the top. After all that, I am happy to say that the view was worth it; it felt otherworldly. I'd achieved transcendence and enlightenment. Well, not really, but I think I'm more sympathetic towards spiritual people when I'm on the summit of a mountain. Its stillness moves me. The view from the top of Ulsanbawi was truly spectacular. In one direction, we could see more mountains and the rest of the national park; the other direction was a sweeping, panoramic view of Sokcho snuggled up beside the ocean. I would have liked to stay there for a long time, but we had the wind to contend with. It was frigid and came in unexpected, frighteningly strong bursts. In fact, an Australian guy with glasses and a camera asked us to take his picture, but while he was posing he slipped on some ice and I was genuinely afraid that he was going to fall over the railing. He didn't but we all went down right afterwards. Going down all those stairs, my legs felt like jelly, but at least the mountain gave us protection from the harsh wind. Once we were back on the flat path, we felt inexplicably rejuvenated. We were jogging down and jumping from rock to rock. The path among the trees was so warm, and the trees and brook so pleasant, that we were both practically frolicking. Then it was time to go home to Seoul. We got in a taxi and went back to Sokcho. We ate dinner at a restaurant that had a Siamese cat just sitting on one of the seats, begging for pets and plays. We petted it and played with it. =] When I got home, I was tired from the hike and from the traveling. My bed seemed pretty comfy that night. On Feb 6, I slowly rejoined society and caught up with regular life things: a phone call with family in Canada, laundry, cleaning, recycling, groceries, dishes, then finally swing dancing at Time Bar. There was another foreigner there! I really like introducing myself to the other foreigners that I see; there aren't many in the swing dancing community here. We danced and introduced ourselves (in that order, actually, haha). His name was Jesse and he was - believe it or not - from Edmonton. We even knew some of the same people. I'm excited to join the swing dancing community when I return home. ^_^ Okay! Since this post is getting a bit long, here are six fairly random, unrelated events that are worthy of a brief mention. 1) I've been listening to Talk to Me in Korean (Ttmik) a lot, and they mentioned Jongno 3(sam)-ga while I was there on the train! Wild. 2) On a Saturday in mid February, I went to dance class and social at Boogie Woogie and stayed at the after party until... 5:45 am. They call it "sun up". We ate delicious, deep-fried eggplant at a restaurant called Sayomi. This restaurant is really special because the owner is also a dancer and he caters a big swing dance event on Jeju Island every year. Also that night, I had the incredible honor of another human being asking me to name him. I gave him the name Brandon, which he thankfully liked and still goes by. He drew a treble clef henna tattoo on my forearm. 3) Bizz sent me a letter with a legitimate wax seal with a bumblebee on it! Inside was a friendship bracelet and a funscary jump-out-at-you paper butterfly that made me leap out of my chair and made my heart race. Bizz, I'm sorry that I don't have a video recording of me opening it. I think you would have laughed out loud, because I certainly did (after I had calmed down)! 4) Went bouldering with Mai and met an old guy who said we could call him Painter Kim. We watched him climb a 5.10d that he said was the most perfect route at the gym. When he was done, he thanked us for watching and said it was the first time he finished it. He said he'd had an injury and hadn't been able to climb it before, but we gave him the strength to finish it. It was nice. 5) At the end of the month, on Feb 23, I attended Swing Family's Harry Potter-themed graduation party. They kept the dance studio open until 3am, and then we went to Sayomi for a goodbye party. The instructors gave all the students towels as gifts! I felt a little emotional. The bar owner kept making us delicious food. Also, he knew Jesse from Edmonton. 6) Johann was leaving at the end of February, and he was kind enough to give everyone at work presents in the form of stuff from his house that he didn't need anymore. Some honorable mentions that he gave me: three giant bags of frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, and pineapples), a big knife, pots, almonds, pecans, a candle, and a bicycle with a lock. That night, I lit the candle and again got fairly emotional. It made me think of the Shakespeare quote, "How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world". I loved its little flickering light that night. It warmed me to my soul. This little alive thing in my place. If you're reading, thank you, Johann. Whew. Finished. Goodnight, friends. See you next time. Oh, and if you have a nice thought about someone, consider sharing it with them. Your words could be a small, warm candle to them on an otherwise dark and lonely night. ^_^ P.S: Kim Gibson, thank you for sharing Universal Flame by Devin Townsend with me! I've really been enjoying Z^2 this month.
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AuthorAshley is a Canadian teaching English in South Korea. Although between the Korean, swing dancing, and general life skills, she's probably learning more than she's teaching. Archives
June 2019
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