Fire Festival is a Bust (and cold)

The fire festival didn't happen. The weather was relatively warm (maybe 5-7 celcius) but the winds were blowing like mad. I heard that they reported 40mph gusts! I'd believe that number for sure, and it would've been crazy to burn that hill. The bad part was earlier in the day, they cancelled all events, but not the burning finale. It wasn't until the last possible minute, at 6:30pm, after many people left and everyone else was frozen stiff did they officially cancel it. It will be rescheduled for Saturday, March 1st.

Fire Festival

This weekend is the fire festival! The weather is beautiful, so Troy and I went for a cruise to check out the opening ceremonies. We saw a massive drum band combined with over 400 people! There were also ceremonies and contests. It should be an exciting weekend! On Saturday night, they'll light the whole hill on fire.

They look fairly important

Good Food

Marching In

They Look Interesting

Performers

You can drum any instrument!

Trip to Seoul, Bukhansan, and the North Korea Border

Last weekend, I went to Seoul to visit Lindsey and do a bit of hiking. It was a great trip but too short! We went to Bukhansan (북한산) Nat'l Park and did a hike along a ridgeline. Not only was t was a really nice hike, it was a proper hike, no stairs, and even a little scary at times. After hiking we went to a bar where you can put your feet into a little pool and the fish pick at your skin! It was wild! On Sunday, our host Wang Ki Won (왕기원) took us to the North Korea border. We went into an Observatory on top of a hill and looked with little telescopes into the country. You couldn't see much, but it was really interesting. The highway along the road up there is all covered in fencing and periodic military mini bunkers. Mr. Wang told us that his father was born in North Korea, and his uncle is still there.

Me, Lindsey, and Nicola with Bukhansan in the background

Lunch

Lindsey on the Death Rope

The Crew at the Fishy Bar

The fish come to eat your feet

The other side of the river is North Korea

Rock Writing

Doctor

I had a sore throat for quite a while in January. Thankfully, it went away, but it came back with a vengance and swollen lymph nodes the other day. I've never had such a bad sore throat before, so I sucked it up and went to the doctor. I've been wanting to go try the oriental doctor, especially for something as untreatable as a sore throat, but I was a little too scared. Instead I went to the normal doctor and after looking at my throat, he said I have "a bacterial infection due to hard work and fatigue." Duh. He charged me 3500 Won ($3.50) and 2000 Won ($2.00) for antibiotics and told me to come back in 3 days.

Disappointed and aching, I learned the best remedy at the bar the night before... a nice warm whiskey drink with honey and lemon.

Halla Snowline

Hallasan is covered in snow!

Sledding

Awesome Shoes John!

Went out Saturday for some sledding with John and Troy. It was a bit of a bust, since we didn't find a steep uncrowded hill. We ended up hiking down the road to 물찻 oreum, but the road was long and the hill was covered in trees. So in the end, we didn't get much sledding in, but still had a nice hike. I love walking in the snow!

Lunar New Year

Yesterday was Lunar New Year so we did a CDI family lunch buffet at one of the hotels. It was a wonderful lunch and I feel like I've gained about 10lbs! Seriously! I feel like I've been hibernating for the past month or two, just staying at home playing guitar. The extra winter layer is good right now, but I need to get back in shape!

New Toys

I made a shopping trip with Troy last weekend and bought some new toys! I got the guitar in front and a surfboard! The guitar is a decent guitar for a good price. It's an acoustic with a pickup, so we can play shows and actually hear my guitar! Behind the guitar is a surfboard! I'm going surfing! Node says that the board is too short for me, but hopefully I'll prove him wrong! Betsy is going to teach me how to surf....I can't wait for the summer!!!

Missing Climbing

I forgot to bring in pictures of last weekend, so I'll post a picture of last summer! I'm really missing rock climbing outside these days. I feel like I've been in a bit of a hibernation period! I sleep in so late every day! Hopefully it will get warm soon so we can get on the bikes and go bouldering or climbing! The temps have been just above freezing for about the last month, which is perfect bouldering weather to some hardcore folks, but hopefully for us fair weather folks, we'll only have to wait a couple more weeks for it to get just a little warmer!

Coffee and Superbowl

Node came over Monday morning for a cup of coffee and the Superbowl! The Superbowl was on television here in Korea on Monday at 8:30am. It would've loved to see a team go undefeated for the season, but since I'm a Colts fan, that team could be any team but the Patriots! We got a super exciting 4th quarter, a Patriots loss, and a couple good cups of coffee!