I have always been a big fan of fall. The crisp mornings, explosions of colors, and ubiquitous cups of tea have me wishing that fall wasn't a harbinger of winter. This fall has been especially pleasant, despite the lack of delicious pumpkin drinks i.e. beer and Starbucks lattes.
October started off with Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving holiday. We were thankful to have a Monday and a Wednesday off (usually people have the Tuesday off but our boss is not exactly one for mercy). Our friend Stephanie (whom we had met in Jeju this summer) came down from Seoul to visit. We drank magkeolli (SURPRISE!) and filled our heads with dreams of future travels.
Much time (and money) was spent at Tequilaz, the only place in town where one can indulge in Americanized-Mexican food, aka heaven. Most Sundays we found ourselves lounging in a park located in the middle of downtown. Once we were even lucky enough to find ourselves picnicking on Nepalese food inside a teepee, we are so cultured.
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| Park days |
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| Teepee |
I was finally released from my prison of crutches and celebrated my new found freedom by hiking the mountain. Mudeung Mountain is apparently known as the guardian mountain of Gwangju and I have been itching to hike it since we arrived. When I received an invite to hike early in order to summit by dawn, I was ecstatic. The alarm went off at 2:10am and Aaron and I briefly considered backing out as our warm bed held more appeal than any exercise at that moment. Thankfully we rallied and found our way to the base of the mountain where we were pleasantly surprised to find 15 other people crazy enough to embark on this mission. Armed with headlamps and anticipation we started the trek, it was 3:30am. Please excuse my everlasting supply of "magical moments from Korea" BUT this one tops them all. We had just stopped to rest after tackling a brutal section of stairs (Korean hiking is weird) and were all busy peeling off sweaty layers when a sound rang out through the darkness. A traditional Korean drum echoed through the valleys, the clean notes reverberating their plea for the monks to rise. A temple hidden from view came to life as the ancient music silenced our group. We listened in awe and I couldn't help but feel as if I was trespassing on this moment, so mundane for the monks, yet so profound for me. Finally we stirred from the trance and continued our dark trek up the mountain. A few hours (and sore muscles) later we reached the summit. I was almost drunk from the rush and exertion. Many pictures were snapped of us proudly "conquering" the mountain before we all sat down to witness the motivation for the endeavour. A cheer went up as the sun peaked the mountains, gold light spilling onto the ocean of mist that settled in the valleys. Grey turned into gold which morphed into pink and too soon we were awash in the light of day. The romp down the mountain was full of jubilant shrieks as the colors of fall revealed themselves all around us. I have never experienced such natural beauty. Surrounded by autumn's hues with good friends at my side I took a deep breath and willed myself to remember this journey forever.
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| Darkness |
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| The summit |
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| Waiting for the sun to come |
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| My babe |
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| Too pretty |
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| Autumn sluts |
The following day Katie, Mara, and I made our way to Boseong, the home of the green tea fields. Many hours were spent wandering around one of Korea's thousand festivals, drinking, laughing, and making life decisions in a magkeolli tent. I was lucky enough to try my hand at pottery and admit that I should keep my day job. A lunch of bibimbap, arguably my favorite Korean dish, followed. The three of us decided to head to the green tea fields only to be deterred at the idea of more walking on our already tired stems. We settled for a green tea ice-cream and headed to a bath house. I was fortunate enough to experience my first full-body scrub by a half naked ajjuma. I climbed onto the massage table with a feigned air of confidence, as naked as can be. Thankfully I paid extra for a cucumber face mask so within 5 minutes I found my head completely secured in a towel. After a brief moment of panic, I relaxed and appreciated the sense of security my towel provided. I could no longer see the black lace undies of my ajjuma, nor the 2 other naked souls having their skin ripped apart; I was at peace. That moment of calm did not last long as the first bit of scrubbing commenced. For a kind, old lady, this broad packed much stronger muscles than expected. She was so disgusted by my previously un-scrubbed body that she made me touch the dead skin as it came off in unbelievable amounts. For the next 30 minutes my only mission was to stay put on the impossibly slippery table and attempt to enjoy this cultural experience. Naturally, I loved it.
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| Magkeolli tent |
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| Katie |
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| Love these two |
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| Green Tea Fields |
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| Making pottery |
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| Bibimbap |
The best part about fall, however, was the acquisition of this little gentleman. His name is Mung Mung and he will be accompanying us back to the states at the end of April.
