bukhansan

we had today off of school due to "children's day" here in korea. why didn't we have that in the states? it's one of the only holidays that's made sense to me so far in this country. anyway, i went hiking to a nearby mountain with lucy and sauul. lucky for us sauul has been to this mountain over 300 times and we spent 5 hours hiking trails that i'm pretty sure no one else has ever seen. it was so great. really rocky actually and a bit scary at times so it's a good thing i got NEW HIKING SHOES!!!!! wohooo! they were awesome! and if i may so, the best looking shoes on the mountain. they have pink laces, they got me down some of the steepest rocks i've ever climbed, and i named them lucy after my wonderful korean hiking buddy. anyway, at the end of the day as we were sitting on the ground eating accorn jelly with seaweed in sesame sauce and drinking rice wine sitting on a little mat along a stream, i was flooded with gratitude for my life here, for the people God has given me here, the way koreans share all their strange and shockingly yummy food, the way they sit on the ground with no shoes when they eat, the fact that i am able to climb mountains with new pink-laced hiking shoes named lucy, and i felt like i was smiling way deep down in my insides. that's a good feeling.



here's lucy and i enjoying our beer and rice wine and acorn jelly seaweed salad.




and here's lucy again. or half of her. she's the one with the pink laces. see, i told you she was the best looking one of the bunch.