ROK, rivers, baseball, GRE, oh my!

Here we are in September, my uncontested favorite time of the year, and Indian Summer is in full swing here. The weather has been nothing short of delightful, so my friends and I have been making the most of it. Here are some September highlights:

I started the month out with a trip north to the DMZ. It was actually quite a bit less

looking out across North Korea

spectacular than I had imagined, but still I think it's important to visit in order to understand Korea (or at least make the attempt to). I do remember being struck by the clear division of countries. In the picture, you can see where the trees stop--that's where N. Korea begins. While mismanagement of natural resources isn't their biggest issue, it did make for a striking contrast.

tanks are scary

That same day, I got to go whitewater rafting. While rafting is always awesome, I could have used a little more excitement. It was mostly class threes, with maybe one class four rapid, and I couldn't help but miss the roaring waters of the Salmon down in Stanley. The guides have a rule there that if you dump a rider, you have to buy a case of beer for the other guides, but if you manage to flip the whole boat, everyone else has to buy you a case. That happens more often than you'd think, especially when the water's high. Still, even those guides would occasionally remark that that area of the Salmon wasn't as crazy as the Middle Fork. I guess we all have our paradise.

Recently, we discovered a climbing wall in Boramae Park, near where my friends Denise, Hannah and Michelle live in Seoul. Naturally, we all gave it a shot. By default, Michelle and I were the "experienced" climbers of the group, having done it before. However, it had been more than a year for Michelle and almost that for me, so we were a little apprehensive, especially when we saw a super-ripped Korean dude scramble up the advanced wall in about two minutes in BARE FEET. I was jealous. We got harnessed and up to the wall, and didn't even have to tie ourselves in--whether because he didn't trust us to do it ourselves or didn't want to try speaking in English, I don't know, but the Barefoot Man tied us in without a word. Korea is nothing if not a place of convenience. Despite a little trepidation, Michelle and I got right back into the groove, and all I can say is it felt amazing to get back up on some ropes again! Plus, the ever-amusing Konglish was at its peak that day. "Boryup winjeok!" Barefoot would say, coaching. That means left knee, so I'd move my leg up and then he would call, encouragingly, "Good baby." Trying not to laugh lest I lose my grip, I smiled appreciatively. "Good monkey baby!" he said again. I've learned to take compliments where and how I can get them here. I almost forgot how much I love climbing--I've yet to find another sport that offers quite the same balance of physical challenge and sense of accomplishment as climbing. No pics because I forgot my camera that day, unfortunately, but I'll definitely be back.

The next day, I went with several girls to a baseball game in Seoul, which I've been wanting to do for some time now. It was a good time, and all very Korean, of course. By that I mean there was a lot of coordinated cheers complete with mandatory dance moves

He does not even know how to handle himself

and enthusiastic use of thundersticks. It was Bears vs. Tigers; just before the game, I had chosen to be a Tiger fan because I like tigers more than bears, but this turned out to be folly, as "my" team lost 8-1, I believe. Still, as I wasn't too emotionally invested, I can't complain about a nice day at the ballpark. Also, we met one of the Tigers afterwards. I think he was afraid of us. And it turns out we were on TV! My students told me that they saw me on TV during one of the pitching changes. I've always wanted to appear on TV without having to do anything spectacular, so...check that one off the list.

Finally, I've been keeping busy between outdoor pursuits by studying for the GRE. I have decided to try to get into grad school for *cross your fingers* creative writing, which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me. In Asia, they administer the GRE as a split test, meaning the writing portion is done at one session, and the math/verbal portion is done at another date. So I did the writing part today, which consists of two essays. That's all I'm allowed to tell you, or else the Educational Testing Services goons will come and kill me. But I will say that it went about as well as I thought it would--the first essay went really well, and the second went reasonably okay. But since most writers are their own worst critics, I probably did fine. Now it's on to relearning algebra for Part Two in October. Wish me luck!

written by

alli_ockinga on September 15, 2009 from Seoul, South Korea

from the travel blog: I go Korea!

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