Just last weekend David and I had the privilege of completing yet another hike, but this time we were accompanied by our new friends from New Zealand. We started our hike up at Yongmasan Mountain and continued all the way down to Achasan Mountain where it spit us back out to a second subway. We had the most perfect weather and felt absolutely blessed to have seen all the wonderful greenery, waterfalls and mountain tops. It took us approximately 3 hours to complete the hike and we hope to one day work our way up to Buchasan Mountain, which is a much higher and longer trek. Compared to my last hike of Achasan Mountain, I will say the Yongmasan portion of it was much more rocky and much more of a challenge. We really deserved the ice cream we purchased at the mountain peak!!! When I say we purchased ice cream, that does not mean there was a pre-existing ice cream shack at the top. Nope, a very courageous Korean man hike all the way to the top with a giant cooler on his back....now that's hard work!
Since our hike took place on a Saturday, after a well deserved nap David and I headed out for a little Mexican food and some walking around the Insadong market place. They had some great music playing outdoors and everyone was enjoying a good stroll next to the stream running through town. The next day was Sunday so of course we went to church! This time we decided to try out another church just south of the river called Jubilee. While the church was much younger than our previous one, we really enjoyed hearing from the Korean-American preacher and meeting all the expats there. It was a great church and it will be hard to make our final decision as to which one we will end up at for the next five months.
It is now Thursday afternoon here in Seoul and we are coming up to the biggest holiday of the year for Koreans, Chuesok (spelling unsure)! Basically this is the Korean's version of Thanksgiving. Everyone is expected to return to their hometowns and pay homage to their ancestors. Many people will go to their beloved ones grave sites and place flowers or clean up the area. There is always a major celebration with of course, a lot of food. We actually just found out that we were invited to a traditional Chuesok celebration at the home of Mr. Harris. Mr. Harris is the VP of the company David is working with and the same man that took us on our first hike here in Korea. I am a little nervous about the food but David's boss Ron and his wife Joy will be joining us for the celebration as well so I am greatly looking forward to it. We have also made plans to meet with a wonderful family here in Seoul that is friends of David's aunt Bonnie. We will be meeting with them on Tuesday for lunch so I am looking forward to meeting with another native Korean.
Finally I want to talk about my trip to the salon today to get my hair cut. I was a little nervous at first wondering weather or not they would understand me and have the same level of care that American salons do. However, I was worried for nothing because I had a wonderful time. The store manager spoke fluent English and I they were very big on head and shoulder massages. The lady that cut my hair did a great job and she even dried and curled it for me afterward. Well that concludes my week, missing everyone back home but enjoying my husband and Korea all the same...
Peace Out
Congrats on your 2 month anniversary. So happy to have such a WONDERFUL daughter and son!!! We love you both and miss you terribly. So enjoyed this blog. Glad your haircut came out good and really glad you enjoyed your package. Let me know what I can start stock piling for you for when you come. By the way, Dad wanted me to be sure and tell that he packed that box (that is why it was so neat)because I couldn't get it to close after I packed it. He had to take everything out and start from scratch. I must admit, he did a much better job than me!
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