Lanterns, Conversations and Dobongsan

Columbus Day weekend was another good one. A lot of milestones here. I went Saturday to the Jinju Lantern Festival in South South Korea. Loren called me with the idea Friday night and he told me his friend Hunter was coming too. So after my 2 hour commute to Loren’s apartment we got on a bus to travel another 4 ½ hours. The festival had millions of lights and at least a thousand lanterns all along the river banks and floating in the river. All sorts and sizes in so much detail that it was hard to imagine the hours that went into making one. We put paper pieces on a lantern, ate rotisserie chicken from the back of a truck that tasted awesome but would probably not meet USDA and OSHA standards. The lady brought it to our table and proceeded to rip it apart with her hands causing juice and steam to go everywhere, gave us chopsticks and a roll of toilet paper. That and the cigarette hanging out of her mouth and the whooping cough gave me pause but I was starving. After we ate and had a beverage, we shot roman candles off the bridge, walked the city wall, ate some interesting chewy candy and set about finding a place to sleep since it was 11 o’clock and we were homeless in Jinju. Well, nothing was available and after “Bang isoyo”-ing every hotel we could find, we opted to go to another town close-by where, rumor had it, there were rooms available. So at 1230 a.m. we checked in at the charming Diamond Hotel in Sacheon, a real love hotel! For a cheap price we got our room and went out for Soju, beer and the most interesting fruit plate I have ever seen with food I have no idea what they were or how to explain them. There was watermelon and grapes so at least something was recognizable. I learned you can drink Soju from little shot glasses or you can mix it with beer and as it turns out, it will make you sing with conviction at a norebang and dance on a rooftop at 4 in the morning. Who knew? Soju and Maekju (beer) is So-maek. The things I learn. Got up this morning to hike up Dobongsan, a cool granite mountain where you can climb up and stand on the cold, naked and windy peak and see for miles and miles. My cohort Sandy went too making for good conversation on the long and sometimes grueling climb. It had rocks to clamber over, steps built in at some spots, and ropes to pull yourself up on the steep or slick spots. I did obtain a major life threatening injury when my foot slipped while rappelling off the top and cracked into the cliff face. Maybe not life threatening but it did hurt especially since I had a long return to the bottom of the hill ahead, but it looked cool and made people gasp when they saw me slip and then crash into the wall. Through this flooding experience, I think I am cured of my debilitating fear of falling. I felt a little heroic. We got back into town as night fell and were very happy we weren’t still trying to make our way in the dark. So I bought a puffy coat, a couple of gimbaps for dinner and some maekju and came back to the hacienda. The guy at the front desk asked what I did today and I told him and made the awful mistake of adding that my legs felt like rubber bands. He responded, “you broke them?’; “No I just climbed Dobongsan”; “So your legs feel bad?”; “Yes, they are tired”: “Oh really, Why”; I just climbed Dobongsan”; “ So you are feeling tired?” “AAAAAHHHHHH!” I think he was messing with me, but I can’t be sure…damn language barrier has been my downfall in Korea. I feel sad to be leaving, but having a normal conversation will be refreshing.