Bukhansan and Nami Island

Bukhansan Mountain

In an attempt to soak up as much of what is unique to Korea, and what is new to me I have spent the last two weekends outside with friends taking in the last days of fall.

Last weekend three of my coworkers and I went to the most popular and the tallest mountain in the Seoul area, Bukhansan Mountain in northern Seoul.

At the start of our hike (which ended up being about 4 hours there and back) the colors of the leaves were exceptionally bright and varied. Even my camera can't really do the scene justice, and the extra fog that day tinted everything just a bit. Once again nature has impressed me with its way of outdoing itself.

I am lucky to work with a lot of people from all over America and Canada that seems to want to explore as much as I do. Between the different people in our group of about 16 teachers, someone is always discovering something new and interesting to do on the weekends.

At the top and looking over the ridge line. I am standing (perhaps inappropriately) on the top of the fortress wall that runs along this part of the mountain. For several years part of this park had been closed off to everyone. The closing was a result of discovering that it was being used for North Korean spies to sneak into South Korea. Part of the popularity of this mountain is the ability to hike these recently opened and relatively untouched areas that were closed off for more than a decade.

There isn't a much more picturesque scene of Korea in fall than this bridge and the colors around it. I still have a lot to understand about Korea, but something about this picture helps me to feel I know it a bit better.

Welcome to Nami Island...


This interesting little half moon shaped island was created as the result of the building of a local damn in the 1940's. Its roughly 4km in diameter and sits in the middle of the Northern Han river. Unlike Bukhansan mountain this island is completely man made and designed with a feeling in mind. One unique fact, there are no telephone poles on the island as all the cables have been run underground to maintain a natural feeling on Nami.

These kids were doing there best "heart- shape" poses.

Nami island is also known for its romance appeal and has such alluring sites as "First Kiss Bridge" the "Love Hut".... which turned out to be a log pathway along the water. Korea will always make room for its couples.

Here I am at "First Kiss" Bridge.....

I can't remember what kind of trees these were, but looking back on it they seemed like the trees that might lead into Narnia. And this place does have a bit of a surreal feel to it.

Nami Island is also the site for the filming on a famous Korean "soap opera" series as well as some movies.

Korea is a small country will millions of people and like many places I've been to in Asia, its also hard to find a spot where there is no one else around. I like this picture because for a moment this little corner of Nami looks isolated.

Nami Island, you just may have convinced me to come back in the spring.

The little ones....

I am over due on my monthly blog post. Truthfully, I just haven't had a lot of camera moments these days. So, I thought I would post pictures of those who I spend the most time with here in Korea... my students. Specifically, my home room class, which is a group of eight seven year olds (4 boys and 4 girls).

Meet Ability Class:

Every month my Hagwon (private school) takes our preschoolers on a field trip to some place or another around Seoul. The pictures from this section include a trip at the Korean Folk and Miniature Museum.

Meet the girls.... Olivia, Jenny, Alice and Elly (left to right). Here we are in front of the Korean cavemen. There is so much to be said for their personalities in just this one photo. If you are wondering what is in Elly's nose, its a sort of nose-plug used a little too often here because Korean children seem to be super prone to nose bleeds.

I've gotten used to the phrase, "teacher... blood" and can expect hearing it every other week.

The boys... minus Alun (he was in Canada). Andy, Kevin and Henry (from left to right). So we were trying to pose "tough" and show off our muscles.... Kevin is our newest edition to class and is clearly unaware of the meaning of tough or muscles.... but I am working on it.

I have a lot of great pictures of them but I just wanted to post my favorites for now in no specific order.


Elly looking up at Jenny.

Kevin and Andy. Awww.

Fountain Time!!!!!!

Alun found a feather.

Chuseok is sort of like the Korean Thanksgiving in September. At SLP our preschoolers and all the teachers come dressed in traditional Korean clothes called Hanbok.

Andy, Henry and Olivia at Yangjae Stream.

That sums up our first summer together. I have three morning classes that I teach, each for 40 minutes. After that, I return to my home room class and we have lunch together every day.

I will teach this group of children until they finish first grade in February. They are each so different and they keep me on my toes. So far the time here has been flying by..... ahhhh, to be a kids again.

Going Up?

Its Chuseok time in Korea. Chuseok is Korea's version of Thanksgiving. A time when families come together and show respect for their elders, eat and have fun. Being that my elders are on another continent, I am taking this 6 day break to visit Seoraksan Mountain in Northeast Korea.

Buddha. Mountain. Buddha. Mountain. Buddha... well you get the idea. In Korea you pretty much can't have one without the other. Two peaceful things that go hand in hand.

Before you get very far into the park you are greeted by giant Buddha statue and temple. For about $10 you can write a wish or greeting on a roof tile and leave it here at the site.... not sure what happens then, but I think good luck is involved.

This view looks out at the beginning of the trail through the entrance of another buddhist temple. Many families went hiking together and I liked watching these kids running to catch up with theirs.

As for me, this is the first of many self portrait shots that I took... until I got to the top of the mountain and some Korean retirees decided to do a photo shoot of me... Korean style.

As the hike day began it was a bit foggy and cool. The clouds were sitting around the peaks, and making the already cloudy white rocks look even more surreal.

Another temple about 2/3 the way to the top or roughly two hours into the hike. The last hour of the hike required a lot of stairs as you near the top.... mainly because you can only rock climb or use stairs to climb up the bouldery peak..... naturally I was taking the stairs. Trust me, they were scary enough.

Artwork kept coming to mind as I climbed the mountain. Both images of traditional asian water color paintings and of Japanese animation movies like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Everywhere you turned was an image ready to be captured. All the elements, the rocks, trees, water and sky existing perfectly together, as you think they always have.

Sweaty... but nearly there. Once I got to the top a group of about 20 Koreans (couples in their 60's) were relaxing there on the small rock peak. I asked one to take my picture, but a regular shot was apparently not "Korean" enough. So they spiced it up with the addition of one of their hiking hats, the ever popular "peace" fingers and instead of saying cheese, people here say.... you guessed it "KIM CHEEEEE!" Cute huh?

The clouds headed out in the late afternoon and my hike down the mountain was sunny and much more relaxing... and even included a free snickers from a family I met going down. Pretty good day over all.

The story of the mountain I climbed, Ulsanbawi, is written on a sign along the trail. I really enjoyed the legend of how this rock came to be a mountain.