Day 12, 13, 14 - Songnisan (삭리산)

This past weekend, the F*bright office took all us ETAs on a weekend retreat to central Korea. The place was Songnisan, loosely meaning "a place to leave the mundane behind". We were advised not to bring homework, study material, or stress about our lesson plans. Instead, we were supposed to just enjoy the retreat and each others' company.

We were treated to so much food. We hadn't yet had a really traditional Korean meal, but Friday we sat down (on the floor) to some old fashioned stuff. There were tons of banchan (side dishes) spread out in front of the low tables and grills to cook the meat right on the table. We ate like we hadn't seen food in weeks (which to some extent was true). Post-lunch we had a lecture about Buddism to segue into our walk to a Buddist temple.

It was gorgeous. Not only was the scenery amazing, but the fact that we had two monks as personal guides was fantastic. Their stories were fascinating, and because we got to the temple right before evening prayers, we were able to observe the rituals. Awesome.

Saturday, we hiked the mountain. Although my group originally planned on a 2-4 hour hike, we ended up going all the way to the summit... then to the next summit over... then down by a different and much more difficult trail. Even though I'm looking like a hot mess in the pictures, I was happy I did it.

After a good 6+ hours of hiking that was more like rock climbing, I just didn't have the energy to check out the meager night life. Instead, I caught up with some friends and we stayed in the hotel. Ice cream, pajamas, gossip, and K-dramas rounded out the Songnisan trip. It was fantastic and I'm so thankful to the F*bright staff. They're awesome and they totally take care of us. I also feel a lot closer to the other ETAs--there's nothing like feeling as though you might die on the side of a Korean mountainside to really build friendships.

While it was relaxing at Songnisan, coming "home" to Chuncheon was painful. This week starts Camp F*bright, and intensive English camp in which 150 elementary/middle school students are living in the dorm next door and taking the lessons we F*bright ETAs prepare for them. That means class observations, lesson planning, and English teaching on top of the F*bright homework and Korean classes we already take. It'll be pretty intense, but I'll try my best to get some good photos/video so that you can see how adorable these kids are.