[Note to reader: I wrote the following paragraphs yesterday, but couldn't log into blogger.com for some reason. So here ya are, one day late.]
Hey. I totally forgot to write an entry for yesterday. Oops!
I went hiking with my dad again, and while it was a short one, it was a doozy -- the last hundred yards or so was practically vertical. I mean, you had to hang on to the rope, or risk slipping in the mud and saying hi to the Big Three, you know?
The payoff, however, was worth it. We were at the top of Gomdansan, about 30 minutes drive to the east of Seoul, and the view was magnificent. To the west, the city, the Han River, and the huge reservoir where Seoul gets its water; to the east, mountains upon mountains, the craggy tops stretching far into the mist. Sublime.
Or rather, it would have been sublime, except for the 40 other people and children milling around, the little white poufy-tailed dog taking a leak, the guy lighting up and smoking in the middle of the roped-in viewing area, and the two guys off to the side who were selling Popsicles, ramen and makkoli.
Oh well.
Hiking is SO popular here, the trails on the weekend are like the city streets in Seoul. I'm so not kidding. Particularly right now, when the leaves are changing, and it hasn't yet begun to snow, there are more people than trees, it seems.
A large number of hikers take it Very Seriously, and dress to show Their Great Seriousness: bright plaid socks pulled up over their pants to their knees, mighty backpack with pockets for the water bottle and ice pick, gloves, walking stick, a rope hanging from the belt, heavy-duty hiking boots, bandanna round the neck, Goretex jacket, fleece vest -- the list goes on, believe me, but I can't even guess at what some of their accessories are for.
Another (admittedly small) faction of the hiking set are those women who think, hey, this is just like a stroll in the city. Accordingly, they wear full make-up, trousers, and loafers. I kid you not.
Of course, the weirdest group consists of women who are a mix of group 1 and 2 -- they wear hiking clothes and boots, but also sport carefully lined lips, rouged cheeks, painted eyebrows and blow-dried hair.
I have nothing to say about this phenomenon. Nothing at all.
Oh wait, I forgot about the people who bring their tiny little dogs (usually poufy-tailed) hiking. I was wondering why this seemed so odd to me when I realized that in the U.S., usually dogs are prohibited because they might scare away or interact badly with wild animals. No problem here. The only wild animal I saw on our hike -- besides five birds -- was a long-ass earthworm wriggling around on a mud-encrusted step, desperately trying to avoid being stepped on by the hordes.
A number of times, I saw people picking up their little white dogs when coming upon a wet or muddy area, so the dog wouldn't get dirty. (Which makes sense when you consider that they are probably apartment pets that live indoors.) Yesterday, up that stairway to heaven, I passed no fewer than three people who were carrying their dogs inside their jackets to safeguard them. I'm tempted to wonder what happens to the dog if the carrier happens to slip and fall.
Also worth mentioning: Dad and I were munching on some fruit in a clearing about three-quarters of the way up, when I spotted a flash of fluorescent green. On a (you guessed it) little white dog. At first I thought the owners had tied a piece of green fluff to the end of the dog's tail, to better distinguish it from the other 25 little white dogs on the trails, but then I realized the dog's tail was painted fluorescent green. (See, I was never that cruel to Bacon!) My dad said that people get bored sometimes...
Anyways, after all this hiking and observing, we got back to my dad's, and I totally forgot to write a blog entry.

Unable to rouse myself from the warm floor (the Korean heating system involves heating the floor) of my dad's apartment for a while, I got home around 9:30. During the subway ride home, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from Matt, who's an expat this year too, in the Netherlands. It was kind of cool to think that we were communicating half a world away -- practically in real time, too! (There is a noticeable delay between the speaker speaking and the listening receiving.)
Last night I also heard from the teacher of the taekwondo class at Yonsei University, who wanted to know why I'd only come to two classes so far. I was totally taken aback -- I was amazed that he'd care enough to call. He didn't even know I hadn't paid ?just wanted to know where I was. It was a bit strange receiving a call from him at 8:30 pm on Sunday, but I don't know, I thought it was neat that he'd call.

Okay, so it's Monday here, and I haven't had much work yet, so I -- hey! I was all set to write about the background details of my sojourn here (as the T has requested), but I just remembered that I absolutely must tell you about Pepero Day.
Pepero are little stick-shaped crackers of Asia that are dipped in various flavors. I remember as a kid there were only chocolate flavor sticks, but now there are flavors of every kind. The wrapper to an orange flavored Pepero is on my desk now.
Anyway, it's Pepero Day today, so friends buy each other individual sticks, or packets, or huge, expensive Valentine's Day-type baskets of Pepero. Our teacher gave out individual Pepero in class today. (She's so sweet -- before the midterm exam last week, she gave us all yut, the sticky candy traditionally given to students before a test.) The American army officer in my class was very concerned about exactly what it was because he thought he might have to buy his wife (who is Korean) a gift. Well, it's sort of like Valentine's Day, but not quite, so I think he's off the hook. ;)
Oh yes, why is today Pepero Day? Well, today is November 11: 11/11. If you line four Pepero up, you'll see: 1111.
To all the capitalists out there - Happy Pepero Day!