Dominated

Now that Chuseok has come and gone, I fortunately have a bit more to write about. Unfortunately, I don’t get to blog about my amazing tiki trip to the Philippines, or my spontaneous trip to Japan. But, I did have a relaxing break, which I can’t complain about.

After 21 days, I’ve come to realize, that no matter what you do here in Korea, you will always have a great time and you will definitely meet lots of new people.

Friday started as the rest of my break would finish- relaxing. We stayed in watched a movie and hit the sack. Saturday morning, we woke up early, headed to the base and got rejected. No passport, no entry onto the base. Usually, this wouldn’t be a big deal; I would just have Brandon go onto the base with a list of things I needed and then meet him back at the apartment. But today was different- Brandon was participating in his first ever sprint triathlon and I wanted to be there to document it. But no, I am still a druggie in the eyes of the Korean government, so no Army base and no cheering from me. It’s okay; I was never cut out to be a cheerleader anyway.

So what’s the best thing to do following a triathlon? Most would say rest, eat lots of protein, drink lots of water, and prepare to be sore. Brandon, well he’s… a creature. So obviously we headed to Seoul and participated in a Beer Olympics. Now, when I say creature, I mean that in a good way… because the kid did not even get sore after a triathlon and pounding beers. What??? Can I have your body? I was sore and only participated in half of those events!

Where to begin to describe Beer Olympics… Let’s start with the fact that we each picked up two 40oz bottles of Cass beer. Next, I’ll describe the people- all warm-hearted, competitive teachers who have definitely come prepared to dominate. Our hosts even got their Korean co-teachers to join us! Speaking of our hosts, I must finally mention our location.

While most people live in an apartment, these 5 gracious teachers are living the dream. Remember freshman year when everyone lived in dorms and life was amazing? Now just imagine no RAs and no dorms. These people live in… an abandoned hospital!! Yep, old medical records and all. The 3 boys on the 4th floor, 2 girls on the 3rd floor, and lots of room for Beer Olympics on the 1st and 2nd floors.

So as Beer Olympics came and went (with no official record of who actually won, shocking), as did the weekend. Monday offered some shopping, which included 2 pairs of shoes that are absolutely to die for (and so cheap…Cha-Ching!).

And Wednesday (Chuseok Day) provided a little bit of hiking and lots of dominating. After making it to the bottom of Gwanaksan Mountain we ran into a lovely, 63-year-old Ajima, who surprisingly spoke English. But after several stops to take pictures, she meandered her way up the mountain without us. However, as we approached the temple, we were soon reunited with our Ajima.

Most temples actually serve a free lunch around noon, so hungry and not yet ready to hike down the mountain, we sat down with Ajima to have a light meal. Well, a full bowl of bibimbap (rice and vegetarian dish), songpyeon, Korean pancakes, tangerines, a 6in. by 6in. rice patty, rice water, coffee, and tea later, I thought I might vomit. I don’t even eat this much for my own Thanksgiving, let alone a holiday I wasn’t even planning on celebrating. I think “no, thank” must have gotten lost in translation as “yes, I would love some more” because she basically force fed us. Woof.

Following our feast of a meal, Ajima became our little Sherpa. Wanting to show us the best of the mountain, she took us on the most obscure route to the base. While this was a great gesture of her, she had no pity in making me look so unathletic. Sherpa here was jumping from rock to rock, quickly twisting down the mountain as the little agile Ajima that she was. I, on the other hand, pleaded for B’s extra hiking pole, shrieked as I slipped down the rocks, and basically got down on my hands and knees to meander my way down this dreadful path. She even stopped several times, noting (may I quote) “You are a young lady, I am an old woman.” Thank you for that realization. Ajima dominated me and was proud to admit it. For my rebuttal, please see my next post.