I just got back from an awesome 36 hour trip with both the International and Korean students in the Global program. Every semester, SCH (Soonchunhyang) plans an overnight field trip somewhere in Korea for the students in the Global program. This semester, we went to the east coast of Korea.
The meeting time in front of the dorm was 6:00 am, so everyone was pretty tired. I managed to stay awake to see the sunrise while we were leaving before I fell asleep. We had lunch on the beach after a four hour bus ride from our school on the west coast to the east coast. I love the ocean so having a picnic lunch on the beach was awesome.
After lunch, we went to Seoraksan National Park. If you have ever seen any ancient paintings of the mountains of Korea, you would know what this park looks like. It is the most beautiful painting of mountains you have ever seen in real life. The pictures don't do this park justice because it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I went hiking with two of my suitemates and a few other Korean students up a small mountain to the Moving Rock. From what they told me, the Moving Rock is a holy place in Korean Buddhism. Near the rock were a few Buddhist temples. One of them was built into the mountain. It was so beautiful to see the mesh of nature and architecture. It was the most beautiful Buddhist temple I have seen because it was simple and allowed the beauty of nature to shine around it. From what my suitemates told me, the Moving Rock is a giant rock near these temples where people try to move it. They were not sure what the significance was of this rock, but it was fun to try to move it. I couldn't make it budge, but three of the international guys were able to make it slightly rock. There was also a Buddhist temple down the mountain. Down the path from the temple was a giant bronze Buddha. It was the first big Buddha I have seen here in Korea, however there are many all over the country. I'm sure it will not be the last giant Buddha I will get to see during my time in Korea.
After hiking in Seoraksan, we went to a resort a few miles from the park for the night. Each suite from the dorms got a suite room in the resort. In my suite was Jin Ju and her friend Anna, Jin Young, Carrie and her roomate Belle. We had a gorgeous view of the mountains from our room. We had a seafood soup for dinner, followed by preparing for the Halloween party. All of the girls started getting ready two hours before the party: doing their hair, putting on the right makeup, and perfecting their costumes for their first Halloween. It was so fun to see all of the creative costumes that the Koreans prepared. It was very difficult to find a Halloween store near school since Korea doesn't celebrate Halloween. I don't know where they got their costumes and accessories, but I felt like I was in America for a moment when I walked into the "haunted" ballroom. Maiday was the DJ, and even our Global program leaders dressed in costume for the party. After three hours of dancing and pictures, we went back to our suite. The girls in my room unwinded with some "Korean Idol" on TV. Korean Idol contestants are much more talented than their American counterparts because they are required to practice not only singing, but dancing, songwriting, and arranging other artist's songs. It was so fun to get to know some of my suitemates better along with many of the other Korean students in our program. During the week, they are always so busy, so it was nice to see them relax and have some fun after midterms.
Tomorrow, I'm planning to watch a scary movie with some of the international and Korean students for Halloween. The rest of the week is a typical school week, along with an exam in my North and South Korea class. I am leading a study session with some of the international and Korean students on Monday. In a few weeks, I am planning to go to the DMZ with a few of my friends. It looks like November will be pretty busy with lots of small trips. I'm so excited to see and learn more about Korea.
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