Sigh.
Actually, the main goals of our trip this time around were to visit our old co-worker who moved back home to Jeju, and to climb Halla-san, a UNESCO site and the tallest peak in South Korea. (You will recall that our plan to do that last year was foiled by a typhoon.) We managed to do both, actually. Our co-worker was kind enough to pick us up at the ferry terminal when we arrived on Thursday night and take us out to dinner and then ice cream. On Friday, we slept in and relaxed, taking a few hours to hike another one of the Olleh courses and then making our way to the hotel in Seogwipo. On Saturday morning, we woke up early and caught the bus to the trail head at Halla-san. It was chilly and rainy, so we bought some cheap plastic ponchos and headed up the mountain.
Little did we know what lay ahead.
Most of the way up actually isn't too bad. We had read some other bloggers' accounts of climbing, and most people assessed the trail we took (Seongpanak) to be of moderate difficulty, but we actually found it to be surprisingly easy. It was raining, but not heavily, so the ponchos worked well to keep us dry and a little bit warm. The first third is a very gentle ascent, and while the second third is a little more steep, it is not really treacherous at all. The trail is laid with volcanic rock, which gives pretty good traction, and there are a lot of wooden walkways and staircases. Going up Seoraksan was much harder as far as exertion. Anyway, we stopped at the two shelters on the way up and got some hot ramen at the second one. Then, we headed up for the final stretch.
We hit the blizzard right when we broke through the treeline, with just 100 meters of elevation to go. You may not agree with my assessment that it was a blizzard. I don't give a whiz-bang what you think. It was sleeting, the winds were sustained at around 50 mph, and visibility was about five meters. The wind was so strong that it almost knocked me over. We both nearly lost our hats and our glasses. We struggled up the last kilometer, our ponchos cracking in the wind around our shoulders and necks, with me crying out in pain because my hands were so damn cold.
Finally, we made it to the summit. We crouched by the stone marker, snapped two blurry pictures as fast as we could, and then hauled ass back down the mountain.
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| The summit marker. |
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| Joel was in much better shape than I was by this point. |
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| Zero visibility. |
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| Me, looking (and feeling) like a drowned cat. |
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| Some people are more cold-tolerant than others. |
Oh, yeah: Happy 26th birthday, Joel!
We are gearing up for some major changes around here. The weather is hot and muggy, but I finally made sure our AC unit was mold-free, so we can at least run it to keep the apartment from becoming unbearable (we went without last year because I was too lazy to take it apart and make sure it was clean). Along with the weather, summer brings major staff turnover: we have people leaving at the end of every month through September, so we will be training new teachers and saying goodbye to old ones for the next while. Our friend from Missouri leaves at the end of this month (only a week and a half to go!), then the couple that recently got engaged (congratulations, guys!), then the duo from Texas, and last the current senior-most teachers. Turnover (and middle school quarterly exams) mean a lot of change and stress, but it will be nice to meet some new people, too. Frankly, the job has been getting a little repetitive for me, so I won't mind the busy-ness.
As the end of our contract draws closer, we have been doing a lot of thinking about the next step. As of July, we have seven months (212 days, to be precise) left in country. We have talked about coming back to Korea - with the experience at a hagwon, Joel would be qualified for a public school job, and I can get a university job with my master's degree. I am not sure if I want to continue teaching English - I have been maintaining my extracurricular professional activities, but I really want to go back to working in my field. We are also planning to take the Foreign Service exam (FSOT) this October (yes, both of us this time), but that process can take up to a year and a half from start to finish, so I am not sure what we would do in the meantime. The Peace Corps is also an option, as is just going to DC and finding work (the original plan when we came here). It is a good problem to have so many options, but somewhat stressful nonetheless. I tend to fret over this kind of decision-making.
In the meantime, though, we are having a good time - we have been spending a lot of time with friends, and we have a very exciting trip to Tokyo planned for the end of July. I am so excited at the prospect of going back to Japan, but I need to brush up on my Japanese - it has been getting rusty lately.
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