South Korea is a small place - about the size of Florida. Fortunately, it lacks the crocodiles, the confederate flag T-shirts (though they are a hoot), the city of St. Petersburg, and the annoying incessant mosquitoes. Instead Korea has huge, annoying, incessant mosquitoes that don't die off, they just hibernate from the middle of December until early February, then return to feast.
Korea is also blessed with a beautiful, varied mountainous landscape. Mountains are highly regarded in Korean society; monks build temples on them, many carry the respectful suffix "san" on their names like Japanese mountains, and one friend reports that on full moons people ascend the mountain behind her apartment and howl from the peak. Most cities have their own mountain, kind of like a patron saint. Gwangju's is called Mudeungsan, and its silouette appears on a bunch of the road signs with lines of light or inspiration or something emenating from it. When Ben first saw it he thought it was a poop with stink lines coming out.
This would be the appropriate place for a photograph. I'll get one soon.
Anyway, Max and I have hiked a few mountains since arriving. They're cool.
At Nakan Castle near Bolgyeo, with a guy named Sangho I met at a baseball game. He bought Max and I one of those sweet hats each. Max wore his. I did not wear mine.
Wolchulsan. Max is standing on the big rock on the left.
More Wolchulsan. That's the valley down there.
This is near the summit of Hallasan, the tallest mountain in Korea. It's in Jeju, which gets its own post.
A couple of weeks ago, the school was invited to spend a night at a Buddhist temple in Geumsansa, which is of course located on a mountainside.
So it was quite foggy and nice. There was no meat in the food, no beds in the bedroom, and we all had to wake up at 4 and wear silly blue vests, but it was cool.
I liked the style.
Helen and Hobbs liked their vests.
The kids liked their manual labor. Mostly.
Max loved playing on the handcart.
Righto. Here's where we slept:
(Like I said, no beds. We had floor pads, though.)
And here is where we swept:
Sweeping here was nice. Korea can be pretty.
Moral of the story: If you ever have the opportunity to spend some time at a temple, do it. Even if you have to go with a bunch of high schoolers, it's still a nice place for some reflection.
