In an effort to be more proactive toward the "Seoul is a fucking hot cesspool of vomit, garbage and poo and I'm tired of elbowing my way through the melancholy masses " type of feelings I seem to be prone to lately, I've been trying to make a point of doing more thangs that remind me of why I returned to Korea for round two. Hence the lack of Sunday posting.
I am not physically fit. Hell, I'm not entirely convinced I'm mentally fit either, but I suppose that's neither here nor there. Either way, Sunday morning I found myself saying yes when Justin called for a "quick run up Gwanaksan." Before I trek on, allow me to put some thangs into perspective. Gwanaksan is a big mountain. It is rocky and densely forested and vaguely resembles Grand Central Station on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon. According to Wikipedia (the end all, be all, right?) Gwanaksan is a "small mountain." Wikipedia would be wrong. There is absolutely no arguing with my ass, thighs and shoulders, who all agree Gwanaksan is big. Oh, and so is Justin.
The hike was exactly what I needed. The mountain is truly breathtaking. The route varies between gently sloping packed dirt trails warmed by the the summer sun, and craggy outcrops of challenging yet manageable rocks. Each twist and turn is banked on either side by dense green foliage, a fact that had me sighing "Ah, nature!" on more than a handful of occasions. And speaking of nature, we happened upon a black squirrel and a white rabbit. I strongly suspect the rabbit was a "Beomgye Bunny," one of the many things hawked in Beomgye after dark. It was prolly dumped there after some poor fool woke up Sunday morning and realized he'd bought a fucking bunny. Being wasted is fun.
Anyway, I mentioned Justin is big. Being 6'7' he's officially attained celebrity status in Korea, so crawling up the mountainside is like hiking with Paris Hilton: everyone stops to ogle and giggle. But he's gracious. By the time we made it to the summit, he was ready to drink. The Makoli Men stationed at the top all greeted him with laughter and hugs and smiles. Having no such celebrity status, I bought myself an ice cream and wandered over to the edge to mingle with the townies.
And this is what I got:
Ahh, nature. Breathtaking, no?
Anyang from the clouds.
Every mountain summit has a Korean flag. We take patriotism very seriously here in Korea.
He's got a big stride.
These are the farms at the base of the mountain. They reminded me of Gaga and Papa Tom's cabin at Applegate, a place I hadn't thought about in ages.
Oh, and then I saw this. What a douche.
This weekend Gwanaksan, next weekend Everest. A girl's gotta have goals, right?
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