Sokcho, blustery nights, and new friends

*Note: I am not great about documenting my trips, so I steal pictures from better photographers then myself. The pictures in this blog are from Kezia Chee and Marcus.  I will credit the pictures as I go!


So last weekend we had our first longer break in a while. We decided to join our friends Jack and Kezia for a trip to Sokcho. Sokcho is a famous beach city with a massive mountain, Soraksan, nearby.

Saturday morning we got up early to catch the single bus that makes the six hour drive diagonally across the country. Our bus took longer than it should have because of Seoul traffic, but we arrived around four and got our bearings. We touched base with friends of Jack and Kez's from their previous contract who were also in Sokcho. Marinella and Nathan are lovely people and we were happy to get to know them a bit over the weekend. They met us and we made our set up plans. We found the designated beach camping area, set back from the beach behind some trees. Ben and Kez set up the tents, and Jack and I went for food. We planned to grill, but after some mimed instructions from the beach camping enforcers, we learned that charcoal fire was not an option. A gas-burning mini stove do-dad was purchased, and we ate veggies and meat and enjoyed chatting and swapping stories with our old and new friends.

This is our original campsite and our wee little tents. (Koreans, they love the hardcore camping gear, so we looked like we had "My First Camping" set for your backyard.)

The next day as we were preparing to begin activities, it was once again mimed to us that we could no longer have our tents in the designated camping area. We still have no idea why it was ok one night and not the next. We called a co-worker to help with translation, and learned we needed to move to "designated camping area". I think this was probably the case because the next day was a holiday and so they didn't want people camping on the public space when the guards had the day off. Who knows. Anyway, as we were trying to get things cleared up, a Korean guy told Kez where we had to go, and offered that they had booked an extra spot that we could have. This ended up being the luckiest event of the trip, as the gentleman and his three companions were fantastic people. 

We moved our things down the road and set up campground round 2. We then decided to head for the beach for the afternoon.

Our little Gwangju team. (Kez)

We were NOT ASHAMED of being the only human people in (mirror style) bathing suits. (Kez)

 We returned to the campsite to get to know David and eat some dinner. With David was his brother Marcus (these are obviously their chosen English names, which is how they introduced themselves). There was also Jaeyun, who was very quiet but really funny and sweet, and Wonbok, who was silly and really kind. All four of them were open, fun, incredibly generous, and had great senses of humor. We shared some AMAZING grilled pork, veggies, sauces, and SMORES. Yes, I gave someone their first S'more experience. I also brought sparklers which we had a blast with. The night culminated in riding the nearby "Viking", which is one of those carnival rides that goes back and forth super high in the air. It was a great night, and I am so happy I got a chance to know those gentlemen. We will certainly contact them next time we are in Seoul.

Playing a little phase ten and drinking wine before dinner. (Marcus)

Friends and sparklers! (Kez)

Our friends! from the left: Wonbok, Jaeyun, David, Marcus)

 The night took a crappy turn at about three in the morning, when all of us were sleeping. The most intense windstorm hit. It was like a rain-free hurricane. I was truly concerned about branches or tents flying at us. Every single Korean family and group packed up and drove away at 3 in the morning. David and co. left as well with the promise of staying in touch. The four of us were left with winds that were hitting our tents walls into our faces they were so strong. Eventually we decided to move to a somewhat covered sink washroom. That helped some and we were able to sleep through the rest of the night. It made for a tired group the following morning.

For our last night in Sokcho we booked a hostel so we didn't have to worry about our stuff while we climbed Soraksan. We dropped our stuff off and headed to the mountain...well that was a bit of a let down. We ate a delicious seafood pancake to prepare, and went to buy our tickets....only to discover everything except for two hikes were closed due to wind, and fire season. The two hikes were 4 and 6 hours. After 3-4 hours of sleep...that was not in the cards for us. We did get a beautiful view of the mountain. But no climbing happened.

On the way! Ready to go! No such luck. (Kez)

 We returned to our hostel for naps and relaxing. We went on a desperate hunt for dinner and crammed food into our faces. After dinner we briefly met up with David and co. to hang out some more and say goodbye. Needless to say, that was an early to bed night for us.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hostel. Our bus didn't leave until 3:30 so we had time to do some exploring. We walked along the beach, went to some look out spots, and checked out a lighthouse. When we got on our bus that afternoon we concluded that despite the problems, overall it was a wonderful trip. I was so happy to get to know Nathan and Marinella, as well as David and co. I really look forward to the next trip to Seoul (which might be for my art show!) when we can see them all again.

Look out (Kez)

Jumping at the lighthouse (Kez)

There are two squids in the picture (Kez)

We were having trouble finding food....so we posed with this guy

Beeeaaaach (Kez)

Blog lapse over!

Hey gang! I realize I have dropped the ball a little on the blogging. But here I am! Back and ready to tell you more stuff.

Thinking briefly about big trips I have been on since I last blogged....well, we went to Seoul again. It was a blast once more. The most notable event was Ben and my visit to one of the large an famous palaces. I will post a blogs worth of pictures of those in the interest of showing you and not doing a million line blog.

A couple weeks after that myself, Ben, Amelia, Jack, and Kezia all went to Daegu. Amelia and Jack were participating in a 10K and we figured we would come along to support them and to check out Daegu. It was a blast! We stayed in a great hostel with little cube style bunk beds that you could curtain off to be your own little space. We played a lot of card games and wandered around the downtown area. We also checked out an interesting establishment by the name of “Booze in a Bag” and had what could have been fancy cocktails, well, in a bag (and with a complimentary giant sparkler). The next morning we got up early to see Amelia and Jack off. After several mishaps trying to locate them at different points in the race, we managed to find them as they were coming over the finish line. We spent the rest of the day brunching and people watching in the super crowded downtown area.

That was the last big trip I have been on. This weekend we have several days off, and as such, a little time to travel. This time Ben and I will go with Jack and Kezia to Soraksan and Sokcho, a very famous hiking mountain and nearby beach. We will spend two days beach camping before dropping our stuff at a hostel to do a big day long hike.  It should be a delightful combination of very relaxing and horribly grueling!

Aside from travels what updates can I give you? Well, I have several pieces of exciting news. Ben and I have almost definitely decided to extend for an additional six months. After a lot of discussing we came to the decision that after the fairly exhausting process of settling in, dealing with culture shock, making friends, and getting used to a new job, it seems like a crime to piss off after only a year. I am of the opinion that a second year in Korea would be too long for me, but another six months is just about perfect.

In another exciting update, my friend of a billion years, Senti, and her boyfriend are coming to work at ECC! It will be so amazing to have someone I already know and love join us here. I am also really excited to get to show her around and help them get settled and psyched about being in Korea. The first person to come after us is my now very close friend Amelia and I wouldn’t trade her for the world. But when Ben and I first heard that the new person had already spent a year in Korea we were bummed to still be the freshmen of our group. It will be nice to get to play tour guide and help someone make the transition that so many amazing people helped me make!

Those are the biggest pieces of information I have off the top of my head. Korea in spring is insanely beautiful. People told me that a million times, but it’s still pretty mind blowing to see EVERY tree and EVERY bush exploding with flowers. I am really looking forward to a summer full of friends, food, beach camping, and traveling around Korea.