Mountains and Wrestling and Foreigners... Oh My!

So I generally don't write this often but this weekend was so jam-packed with awesome that I think it warrants a post.

(Kim Jwa-jin, known for his resistance to Japanese

occupation and inventing Speed Metal. A national hero)

This weekend was not projected as being of much significance... go for a hike, hang out with Brian maybe watch some tv, maybe play some Starcraft. Yeah, not so much. First off I went out Friday evening and met one of the local foreign teachers. Had a good time and found out that a lot of bars are not just bars-- there is a necessary food purchase.

Saturday I expected to just putter around until I went to meet Brian at the train station. So right in the middle of my puttering my doorbell rings. I go to my door and my co-teacher as well as four of my students are there. They had brought me lunch which was totally awesome.

(Korean Pizza and what I consider to be like a

Korean Lunchable. Beats the hell out of Ramen!)

Then I went hiking up a nearby mountain with my co-teacher and another teacher from the school. It was wicked muggy and at some points rainy outside but once we got higher it was nice and cool. Turns out there was some exercise equipment there too so we all worked out on the machines up there.

(Shot at the top of the mountain above HongSeong)

("Resting Place" halfway up the mountain God I

hope they meant for hikers to take a breather)

Then my co-teacher gave me a ride (after I cleaned up a bit) to the HongSeong train station. On the way I noticed a huge festival going on (about which no one I work with breathed a word) so I took a mental note.

It took about 45 minutes for Brian to get there. I was amused to realize I was waiting for the Seoul Train (say it out loud). We grabbed dinner at my favorite restaurant and headed back to my apartment to chill. On the way back we saw a sign that was far wiser than the makers may have realized...

(A little cynical aren't we Cutsie Store?)

Today we headed out in the afternoon in search of food. After a search in vain around the university we decided to hop a bus downtown and hit up the festival. Festivals always have food, right?

Well we got more than we bargained for. Near the bus stop we saw a big ring of sand and sand bags set up for a Korean wrestling (씨름 ) competition. I thought ohh look, a chance at an enlightening cultural experience! It seemed pretty cool watching the guys throw each other in the ring.

(It seems like a pretty cool sport, I wish I could try it...)

After the third match one of the officials came up to Brian and me, signaling for us to follow him. He led us up to a table where they promptly began to register us for the men's event. We were a little shocked but I figured why the hell not? So Brian and I registered thinking we'd go up against each other and give them a show of us foreigners trying to do their sport. No, it was a tournament.

We both got knocked out in the first round but it was pretty awesome anyway. The way it works is to put the opponent on the ground and it's best of three heats. Brian won his second, I lost two in a row. The thing is, in terms of strength I was, if anything, more than a match for my opponent. They had us on technique though. No beginner's luck here.

After that we watched the ladies' event which was fairly entertaining. We left just before the end so we called off our bet... we went back and saw the trophy ceremony... Brian's pick lost.

(Did somebody say "Girl Fight"?)

All participants were awarded a polo shirt, two bags of rice (much needed since I don't have much food here) and a token for one free meal at one of the vendors (we actually thought the tokens were cooler so we just paid for dinner).

(Awesome coin from the wrestling event)

We ran into some foreign teachers at the festival too. I believe Brian's exact words were "she's white-- GET HER!" Several were from South Africa and one from England who apparently knows where one can go fishing around here. (New friend? Probably.) Then we ran into another foreign teacher in an Indiana t-shirt. What are the odds? There's a teacher in this town from good old IU! So I joined a group on Facebook to network with them so that's awesome.

(Food!)

I saw Brian off at the train station and then went back to my apartment (since now I know how to catch a bus back to my neighborhood!) Probably going to hit the mountain again tomorrow after work. I'm going to train-- Korean wrestling hasn't seen the last of Scrappy!

Stay groovy everybody-- Cheers!