Wishing Rocks, Korean Sushi, and Climbing Mountains

안녕하세요 여러분 (an-nyeong-ha-se-yo yeo-reo-bun)
Hello Everyone!

I really hope you all enjoyed my post about Korean food last week! Which one was your favorite to learn about? Are there any Korean foods  you know that you wish I talked about? I think my favorite was the seaweed soup because not only is it healthy for you, I think its really neat that it has such an interesting cultural meaning behind it too.

This week I am going to talk about a fun activity I did recently with some friends and teach you about the culture surrounding this activity. First, I am going to show you a picture from this activity. Can you guess what activity I may have been doing?

Picture I took overlooking part of the peak at Bukhan Mountain (북한산-book-han-san)

If you haven't guessed yet, I went hiking! Hiking in Korea is called 등산하다 (deung-san-ha-da), which literally refers to the act of climbing up a mountain. The particular mountain I hiked at was called 북한산 (book-han-san) and is located in Seoul, South Korea. 북한산 means North-Korea-Mountain (though it is not located in North Korea but is in the North of South Korea).

A map of Bukhansan relative to Seoul

Have you ever been hiking in Oregon or anywhere else in the world? I have always loved hiking and I think that the Gorge in Oregon has some of the most beautiful trails, so when my friend offered the opportunity to go hiking in Korea I couldn't pass up the chance.

My friends and I took the subway from our university in Suncheon to Seoul on Sunday, October 13th which was about a 3 hour subway ride. We left early in the morning but after some troubles we didn't get started until about 11am. The hike was going supposed to be around 5 hours long which worked well considering the park closed at 5pm. Luckily the weather was perfect that day. Hiking is definitely most popular in the fall since in Korea the fall is less rainy and it is not as hot as the summer.

My friends and I during our hike. This picture was taken about 3 hours in or halfway through. 

The first thing I noticed when we were hiking was how young we all were compared to the rest of the hikers. In America, hiking is often an activity for people of all ages (but especially younger kids). However, in Korea hiking is typically done by older Koreans in their 40s-70s. When I asked my Korean friends about this they said that the older Koreans find it to be the best way to connect with their friends and get some healthy exercise in at the same time. Unlike younger people who prefer to go out with their friends at the movies, karaoke rooms, clubs, or video game cafes. 

Group of Koreans getting ready to start their hike. Aren't their outfits super colorful?

Remember how last week we talked about different foods that have cultural meaning? Hiking has one too! When I learned about hiking in Korea, my Korean teacher explained that the #1 food to eat when hiking is 김밥 (kim-bap) or Korean sushi. It is similar to Japanese sushi, except it doesn't contain raw fish, and mostly has vegetables. The most classic kimbap contains spam or bulgogi, rice, seaweed, pickled radish, carrots, and spinach. It is super delicious so my friends and I definitely brought some with us. I also wasn't surprised when I saw the countless kimbap stands surrounding the mountain. There was even a man selling fresh kimbap straight out of his van!

Example of some kimbap.

Hiking in Korea isn't only great exercise, it is also a great way to see some neat historical sites from Ancient Korea. While we were hiking we saw two different historical buildings. One was a gate built in the Joseon dynasty and the other was a little shrine also built during the Joseon dynasty. The mountains is also where most of the buddhist temples and monasteries are so you will often see people dressed in traditional religious attire while hiking (such as buddhist monks). 

Shrine we saw while hiking. 

Before hiking my Korean Culture and Society professor also talked to us about these stone formations you can often come across while hiking. They basically just look like stacks of rocks. However, my teacher explained they have another purpose beyond looking pretty. It actually turns out they are wishing rocks! This means that when you add a new rock to the pile you make a wish and hopefully it will come true. I came across quite a few on our hike and tried to make a wish each time. Since the hike was pretty tough and I was getting pretty tired, most of my wishes ended up being about finishing the hike successfully. Do you know of any traditions in America where we make wishes? The first one I can think of is dandelions! I remember whenever I saw a dandelion as a kid I would blow the thistles, close my eyes, and make a wish. 

A smaller rock formation I saw while hiking. 

A large stack of rocks we found near the ancient Korean gate!
How many wishes do you think have been made here!?

Overall, my first hiking experience was super fun and I made a lot of new memories that I will keep forever. The trail was tough and my legs definitely hurt a lot the next day, but I had a great time and would love to go hiking in Korea again if I have the chance. What do you all think? Would you like to try hiking in Korea? What do you think about kimbap and wishing rocks?

View of one of the peaks at the mountain. Unfortunately we ran out of time to go up there.
Can you spot the people climbing?

Another view of the mountain. Can you spot the city in the background? We were pretty high up huh?

As always, I would love to hear all of your thoughts below and if you have any ideas for upcoming posts! This week is midterms (big tests you take during the middle of the semester in college) so I think I will go back to studying now! Have a great week everyone!

다음에 봐요 (da-eum-eh bwa-yo)! Until next time!