The Hike in Namhansanseong.

I thought I'd play a little game when I arrived in Seoul.  It's a bit distasteful, so if you're easily offended you probably shouldn't read on and hear about the details.  In moving from a country - in particular the Midwest - where seeing overweight people is common and a claim to fame is the ridiculously funny and alarming People of Walmart (http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/photos/top-rated/page/2) I thought it would be interesting to notice how long it took me to see a fat person in Korea.  Sure their diet is based on rice and fish, sure their genes seem to lean towards slim lines, sure their national pastime is hiking - but in the second largest city in the world surely it wouldn't take long.  Ha!

Six days.  Six days of shopping, walking, sightseeing, eating out, getting caught in crowds of hundreds in the subway station.  Six days of seeing fried chicken places on every corner, bakeries within 20 feet of each other, and more Dunkin' Donuts in a one mile square radius than all the sightings I've racked up of the chain in the States combined.  And yes, I even stopped at Walmart.  Twice.  Though their version of Walmart is E-Mart.  And to be fair, I should elaborate.  This person was not obese, just a bit overweight - chunky, chubby, pleasantly plump.  And it still took me six days! 

Hoping that the national pastime had something to do with all the sveltness around me, but mostly because I was hoping to get a respite from all the urban hustle and bustle - I decided to go after my first hiking experience in Seoul.  Thanks to this website - http://www.seoulstyle.com/fitart_hikingKorea.htm - I found my hike.  It mentioned butterflies, was on my side of the city, and claimed to have an easy hike (jet lag is a b*tch).  Really, it had me at butterflies, but whatever.

Here's what it took to get there for me:

12 minutes = Walk to Daechi subway station

33 minutes = Daechi to Suseo (4 stops), transfer to yellow line and go to Bokjeong (1 stop), transfer to pink   line and go to Namhansanseong (2 stops)

25 minutes = Walk to trail head.  I could have ridden the bus.  But that would require the necessary courage to try the bus system.  Hiking shoes?  Check.  Backpack with snacks?  Check.  Courage?  Nope.  Used that all up for the flight here.

Total time to get to hike = 70 minutes well spent...check out this kick butt park that I got to wander around in.  Not only did I spend 2 hours hiking and exploring, but I didn't even see half the trails!  (Although I tried to keep my pictures here to a minimum, it was very hard - seehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/65633043@N08/?saved=1 for more.)

Butterflies!  There was a tree covered in these orange flowers and thus covered in butterflies...amazing!

After nothing but concrete, traffic noise, and people everywhere for 4 days, this was such a welcome sight at the beginning of the park.  What this picture doesn't show is level after level of gently flowing falls and streams and the many older Koreans soaking their feet in the water.

In fact, the entire beginning area of the park seemed to be dedicated to feet.  That's right - feet.  Permanent-quality diagrams and posters about feet mounted onto stone display forms, all-weather towering cupboards with racks for shoes, walking paths made with intricate designs of varying sizes of rocks and wood surfaces...presumably to lend a reflexology experience when walked on?

As I had arrived at the park in the early morning, it was just me and old people - on a Monday morning everyone else in the city must have had jobs or school to attend to.  Everyone, that is, except this guy:

Yup...that's right.  This dude is literally sitting at the top of one of the waterfalls, working dutifully at his laptop.  I'd like to think that if our dear Justin Pitts was an old Korean guy, he would be this one.

Although the water looked nice, I wanted to HIKE...and hike, I did.  It was all up hill.  Remember the description said "easy"?  Bah.  If easy is a consistent incline, sure.  Still...totally worth it.

Steps leading to the temple.

More steps leading to the temple.

Dragons and prayer lanterns, oh my!

A feast of colors...

A view from the top of the temple - you can see the juxtaposition of the old in the foreground with the new in the background...the concept of the old being blended with the new is one commonly referenced in Seoul.

I just couldn't get enough of these things...imagine wandering the grounds of a temple practically alone, the prayer lanterns swaying in the breeze, the vistas amazing, and the only company a small gray-haired woman tending to her incense and prayers as she went on her rounds to the different altars.  Hers was the only path I crossed.  It felt both magical and intrusive...that I would be there. 

Did I mention that Koreans know how to picnic?  It's an art here, I swear - and I'm sure I've only seen the beginning of the craft...

Not impressed?  Surely you jest!  Notice the picnic blanket weighted with rocks and prepped with a cushioned butt pad, towel, fan and book.  Now call your attention to the pillars of stone.  Pillar #1 - a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label, silver cup, assorted snacks, and box holding silver chopsticks and spoons.  Pillar #2 - a bag of fried chicken and beer.  Pillar #3 - two purses containing unknown items.  This spread was out and unattended on my way up the mountain as well as on my way back down 2 hours later.  The amount of trust and respect over objects in public places here is amazing. 

 These men, however, won the picnic contest on location alone...

What an absolutely wonderful adventure.  What an absolutely wonderful day.  What an absolutely wonderful way to to bring days of jet lag, loneliness, and timidity to an end...at least for the span of the day.

You see, it hasn't been all fun airline meals and delicious white carbs and beautiful temples.  Jet lag sucks.  Moving to a new country alone kind of sucks.  And I would say that culture shock sucks, but "Culture Shock:  Korea" delineates between that and "Moving-to-a-New-Country" shock, which I'm sure describes more accurately what I've been going through.  Uncertain about simple everyday tasks - how to get to the store, how to decipher the AC controls in Hangul, how to find food that's healthy and nourishing, what all the strange noises mean, coming to terms with being halfway across the world from family and friends and support, being stared at incessently, dealing with the private shame of watching romantic comedies on the English language movie channel just because they remind you of the States...you know, the basics.

When I considered whether or not I believed myself to be emotionally hearty enough to undertake this path, it seemed logical to reflect on my state of mind only two years ago.  At the time, my husband had left me and it felt like my life was a mirror that had shattered on the floor - splitting apart and destroying the image of what I had imagined my life would be.  As I struggled to move forward, to breathe, to accomplish even the simplest of tasks, my soul seemed to leave bloody footprints on the floor as it navigated its way over the shards of glass.  Which makes walking on metaphorical gravel right now seem almost easy.  Almost.