I would walk 500 miles

I've had a great couple of days!

Yesterday the teachers from my school went on a field trip. With what is fast becoming typical miscommunication I thought we were spending 6+ hours looking at cherry blossoms. The day contained so much more then that, and was incredible. We travelled to Geongju, a city that was once the seat of the Silla dynasty. Because of that there are an incredible number of tourist sites within a small area, I was lucky enough to see a number of them. My Korean coteacher and the Grade 6 teacher decided to leave early in order to show me 2 extra sites, a temple and tombs. We spent about 2 hours walking around (not not mention up even more hills - my calves hurt!) before meeting up with the rest of the teachers.

We ended up at a lake surrounded by cherry blossoms that had swan topped paddel boats - of course, an amazing photo op. As we were preparing to boat we noticed thick smoke pouring from the mountain at the end of the lake - the 2nd forest fire I've seen this week. Why did noone warn me about this!? I could not help but laugh as 100's of people continued to enjoy the swan boats while water bombing helicopters flew over us to fill up at the other end of the lake, no more then a kilometer away. After boating we stopped to get a better view of the helicopters before heading to dinner.

After a tradition Korean style dinner (which I suprised everyone by enjoying) we set out for a night walk around an ancient king's gardens. The lighting was gorgeous, and I can't wait to see the pictures of one of the teachers who had his digital SLR mounted on a tripod. At about 10 different spots around the lake we stopped and he took individual shots of everyone in our group. Finally, someone who loves photoshoots as much as I do!




Today George and I decided to hit Haeundae beach for coffee and breakfast, and then set out walking around 11.

We walked to the far end (towards Gwangali) of the beach, and along a trail for a way, then turned around with hopes of hiking towards Seongjong, another beach that we hadn't yet seen. We left Haeundae around 1 and after hiking up and over a giagantic hill we found ourselves walking through a number of tiny fishing villages along the coast, all the way to Seongjong. There were incredible sights along the way, and we really felt like we had left the beaten trail. I cannot get over how beautiful Korea is, and today was one of the best days I've had here. With numerous stops for pictures we arrived at the beach ar0und 3:30 and had lunch at a kimbap restaurant before taking a $4 cab ride home.

With my walk Thursday, the field trip yesterday, and our 4 hours of beach walking and hiking today I've probably done at least 10 hours of walking (5 or more uphill!) since Thursday night. My legs hurt!

We arrived home and all I wanted was a nap, but of course, we're in Korea, expect the unexpected (oh wait, that's Big Brother...). The was a b-boy competition on the street outside of our apartment. The music just shut off now, at 7 pm. Needless to say, I'm a little tired, but it has been an incredible few days :)