I made another pilgrimage into the mountains North-ish of Busan yesterday for a stellar hike with my colleagues and friends. We had a great time. I have no idea how far we hiked (it was at least a few miles), but as you can see from the pictures, the trail stretches along the ridge of mountains. I guess these ridges were used to defend against the Japanese, back in the day. (As any Korean will tell you, the Japanese have been a persistent problem throughout Korea's history, mostly because Korea is a peninsula that provides very convenient passage to the mainland. If, you know, it weren't for all the Koreans in the way.)
There were many, many Koreans hiking the trail along with us. I've noticed that Koreans take their sportswear VERY seriously. People buy these special hiking jackets, pants, shoes, and backpacks. And those ski-pole-type-things that I guess help you hike on difficult terrain. But I honestly find that whole practice pretty silly. When I showed up in some durable denim pants and a short-sleeve shirt, my Korean colleague commented that "I didn't look like I was ready for hiking." Jeez, sorry I didn't drop a few hundred thousand won on the "appropriate" gear!
In other news, the end of the session is approaching, which means that in two short weeks I'll be getting an entirely new group of children. And believe me, there are some kids that I will be all-too-happy to have out of my classroom. However, I might have to teach some classes that I've never done before, which is always a little uncomfortable at first. And it also means that I have to submit reports on every student I have right now (probably a little less than one hundred). Which I'm officially late on! Back to work on those...
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