Sunday Afternoons

So how do you spend a lazy Sunday afternoon?

A relaxing weekend it was. I believe the most adventurous it got this weekend was a trip to E-mart in nearby Tongyong. We enjoyed the company of our friends Mike and Allissa this weekend and planned for travels to come. We have become quite involved in a church which has an English service at 1:00. This leaves us with a bit of time to do something in the afternoon.

Two Sundays ago we hopped aboard the Island bus for a dollar and took it to Gujora beach without too much confusion.

We took our books, our sandwiches, and a blanket. Although it was not warm enough to want to swim we still enjoyed the sand, the sounds, and the getaway.

Chelsie has been reading some classic Jane Austin novels and I have stuck to pirate adventures like Treasure Island.

A simple and delightful adventure. I'm sure that we'll be back when the weather gets warm.

Weekend weather, like this Sunday afternoon, sometimes calls for a good hike. So my sweetie and I laced up our boots and headed for the peak, Gyeryongsan it was. We have been to, and wrote about, hiking to the top before, but I just wanted to give you an update: the mountain is still there. At the base of the hiking trail there is a temple which is very well kept and always adds a wonderful taste of Korea.

The rain came down heavy this weekend, so the trail was a bit sticky in places, but not to complain because the waterfalls were beautiful.

Yes, the summit. Koreans don't build switchbacks into their trials. They build steps. The hike was straight up. A panoramic masterpiece came to view upon summiting the san (mountain).

The summit marker. About 1800 feet above sea level.

We stopped in a gazebo on the way down to enjoy the sunset. Banana chips and a sandwich came out of the backpack. MMM. We also enjoyed water with a bit of fresh cut rosemary, a new-found favorite.

A view of our home below. It was nice to see things have finally greened up.

That is about it. Like I said they are lazy Sunday afternoons.

Gyeryongsan Hike

We wanted to give you guys some bearings as to where we are located. Follow the numbers in the following picture. South Korea is about half the size of Missouri, but is the home of 48.4 million people. This means that it is approximately 17 times more densely populated than our home state. No worries though, as the kiwis who teach here say. We are located in a more remote location further from the heavily populated Seoul, Puscan, or Incheon. We love it here.


The following is a picture of Goheon Port and city. It is a hub for one of South Korea's leading industries, Samsung Shipyards. (Pictures of the shipyard will come later when we hike to a better photo location) Here is a closer shot of the part of town that we tromp around the most. The orange arrow is our apartment building. The green arrow is a hike that we enjoy throughout the week. At the top of the trail there is a workout area with pull-up bars, sit-up benches, and a small bench press. There are also hula hoops for those who want to work out that core. The yellow is where we work, ECC Foreign Language Institute. The last is our church indicated by the pink arrow. As you can see it is rather easy to get around here by foot. A taxi is very inexpensive as long as you know how to communicate to the driver where you want to go! As you might have already noticed from the maps and pictures, we are surrounded by mountains here. This makes for great hiking at a moments notice. We have made friends with a number of other English teachers in the area. Hikes are a great way to exercise and get some fresh air before school in the afternoon.

This weekend we were able to hike a peak, to watch the sunset, which is just due southwest of our town. The elevation change is pretty really nice. I am guessing it to be about 1500 to 2000 feet. We call it the stairmaster.

This can be a confusing picture. It is about a 270 degree panorama from the peak. On the left is our town, Gohyeon, and on the right is Oksan, a small farming and fishing village. There is a bus which navigated the 15 square mile Island. It costs about 1000 won (about $0.80) each time you board regardless of distance. It can be crowed with standing room only, but you can beat the price. We can see the main terminal from our house. So convenient. The fishing and agrarian culture in the valley below.

We are told that the rice patties will begin to green as spring and summer come. Greenhouses!

Chelsie, Dan, and I at the summit waiting for the sun to dip below the beautiful, distant horizon spotted with nearby islands. (Thank you Lindsay for the photo)
Oksan village below.

Click on the photo.

Click on the photo to enlarge the view.

God's creation is beautiful (아름답다 = a-reum-dap-tta). We are always amazed.

(Thanks again for the photo Lindsay its nice to be in a shot occasionally. You guys are awesome.)

We have had some trouble getting our photos to enlarge when you click on them. We hope to solve this problem soon. Sorry.