Visiting an old friend

On January eighth, I returned to Seoraksan and hiked to the peak, Daecheongbong.  I had a great time getting reacquainted but I have to admit that I was nervous the day before.

It's been a few years since I last climbed it and my fitness has declined.  The night before, I slept at a friend's apartment -he took excellent care of me gave me a Pine Ocean hoodie as a gift -and my anxiety woke me frequently through the night.

I didn't get lost exactly, but I did take a wrong turn briefly in Yangyang; The road to Osaek has improved greatly since my time there.

I started my hike around 8:00

Almost immediately, I wondered if I had enough clothes.  I soon discovered I did.  Fifteen minutes into my hike, I had my hat packed away, my coat strapped to my backpack and my shirt entirely unbuttoned.

There were many birds to be seen during the hike.  My camera isn't great and birds are typically small, but these ones allowed me to get quite close.

I normally don't pay much attention to the trees but you have to admire their tenacity in growing at over a kilometre in altitude.

I love how spiralled the trunk is on this old cedar(?)

I've never see the sky this clear at the peak.  This was around 11:00 and I feared there would be too much haze.

 You can see I am wearing a lot more clothing now!

 Here is an awkward bit of stitching.

The climb was great.  I carried 'ijen' or half-crampons but chose not to use them.  I did use them in the descent and they gave me great traction.  In light of my poor fitness level, I allowed for four hours to reach the peak.  In my prime, I typically made it in two and a half. This time, under three, so I am happily surprised.  The confounding variable may be my advanced age; I just took it slow and steady and enjoyed the view wherever I could.  Never fast, but without any long breaks either.

So, the climb was great.  The first half of the descent was pretty good, too.  Then, the pounding on my knees took it's toll.  Although I rested more frequently on the way down, I was hobbling painfully by the time I reached the ranger station.

I saw some rangers on the trails and am unsure what to think.  They were dressed in beige and had good boots and gloves and walking sticks and a garbage bag.  I found them at about the halfway point and they were dressed appropriately to collect the garbage and orange peels that jerks leave as they hike but insufficiently to reach the summit and without any rescue or first aid materials - unless their pockets were packed.

I stumbled to my car and dropped off most of my belongings, then stumbled further down to Osaek hot springs!

My knees are sore now, but I think the soak I took will speed my recovery.  Whatever, it sure felt great at the time.

I am at an ESL camp near Wonju and using my nine-year-old computer.  It is working great for it's age but I am limited.  I have a video I made at the peak and will consider posting it when I get home.

A Winter Tradition

We had a great swim.  The final still shows west-bound traffic on highway 50.  A whole lot of  people came to see us swim.  One hour to get to the beach, five hours to get back to camp!

The next 24 hours

  I am currently at my in-laws with my son.  soon, I will drive into Busan and pick up Kwandongwife and drive to sokcho (the little guy is staying with the in-laws).  I will crash until my wife wakes me up.  We will bax all our belongings and the movign truck will arrive in the afternoon.  We will load it up, then I will drive to Jinyoung (near Busan) to stay the night with (other) in-laws (not entirely sure why).  Sunday morning (OK, we have moved beyond 24 hours by now), we will drive into Busan and mee the moving truck and begin settling into our new home.

24 hours, about half of that driving - oh, boy!

I can't decide if I will make a clean break with this blog and move to a new one -already chosen and with a few posts on it- or if I will continue to follow Gangwon-related news story and post them here.  This blog hasn't been very active in February, yet it will not become any more active.

I will miss Gangwon and am sorry that my current schedule doesn't allow for much in the way of face-to-face goodbyes.  I am certain to visit it when I have the chance in the summer though.

Help a Gangwon Teacher with a broken back

John Yost, apparently working in Pyeongchang, was paragliding recently and had an accident.

BizarroBrian was the first I noticed reporting the accident and request for donations, but Kimchi Icecream also broke the story.  John Yost has his own website, where you can donate.

I donated ten dollars, I think.   The credit card I used was issued in Canada, but the website only accepted American states so I was unable to enter "Ontario".  It seems to have gone through, but I am not sure.

2009 Seorak triathlon

The Seoral International Triathlon (which doesn't actually take place in Seorak National Park) is scheduled for June 28.  The website is here.  The banner went up today but the deadline for entries was a week ago. 

I'll be away when it takes place so I don't feel,"dang!  I should have trained and entered it." the way I usually do.

Leisure games? The PR guy seems cool.

This is Um Hong-gil, the first climber to climb all sixteen of the peaks over 8,000m in the Himalayas. He has also "been named the public relations representative of the Chuncheon 2010 World Leisure Congress and Leisure Games" according to the Korea Times (but photo is from a previous article).

I have a degree in recreation and leisure studies, so you know I am going to defend the field of study (a great deal of the coursework was in management). Still, I am not sure what leisure games are.

I know there are lifeguard games, in which lifeguards perform simulated rescues, judged on time and technique...

Ah, I'll let it go. I have to pick up my son from the daycare.

First Prize is Hamilton Island, Second Prize is Muskoka

I paraphrased Major General (Ret'd) Lewis MacKenzie in the title. He was running for office in my district and locals became upset that he thought Ottawa was better than Muskoka. He lost the election. Then he moved out of Muskoka.

Anyway, I applied for the "Best Job In The World" and did not make the shortlist. This summer, instead, I will go home and visit friends in Muskoka.

The BJITW was an advertising ploy by Queensland Tourism. They created a sweetheart of a job that was mostly intended to focus attention on the area. The successful applicant would live on Hamilton Island, enjoy him/her-self and make a video blog each week about his/her activities.

I, and 35,000 others, applied. Today, the shortlist of 50 was announced. I was not on that list.
There was one Korean entry, however. A girl named Gina. Go Gina! I have already voted for her. UPDATED: There are two Korean entrants - I missed Juweon. Go Juweon!

Applications took the form of a video, which had to be one minute. My first application was 1:00:5 or something and was rejected. My second application was a tiny bit shorter and was accepted.

For anyone who cares, here they are (Queensland Tourism doesn't care).



I would link to Gina's video but I am having some difficulties with the URLs - they don't change as I change websites. Maybe later. UPDATED: The link is now added. Hope it works.

Oh, and MacKenzie's quote was along the lines of "First prize is Ottawa, second prize is Muskoka" - he wanted to win the election, but Muskoka was waiting for him if he didn't. Of course, he then moved out of Muskoka so I wonder what third prize was.

Not quite sure of the value of this

...but it sure looks cute.

Last week the big fella (no longer the little guy) had his first Tae Kwon Do class.

We were asked, in an entirely friendly and well-meaning way, to not hang around the gym during his first classes as he would be distracted.

I did, however, watch the end of his classes as I waited to pick him up, careful to stand back from the door I peering through, to see him but not be too obvious (foreigners can distract whole classes of children easily).

The first time I watched, he was mostly playing with his belt like a snake. On a later visit, I saw him practice with some classmates of similar age or size. They must have had more experience because they were kicking from what I know as 'fighting stance' (one leg leading,body twisted slightly, hands
up in fists) and jumping on ocassion from left-leg-leading to right-leg-leading. The big fella was just jumping up and down, body squarely facing the instructor.

But, he had a happy smile on his face.

I am satisfied with the instructors and the big fella's training. So long as he has fun with other children, and learns a little, I will be as happy as the litt...big fella.

Oh, these photos were taken at home, if you couldn't tell.

Help me get the best job in the world!

About two weeks ago, I applied for the best job in the world. The application took the form of a homemade video. I was rejected because the video needed to be 60.0 seconds or less and mine apparently was 60.1 or so long.

I applied again, it was accepted and you will find a link at the bottom of this post.

The "Best Job" is really a marketing tool by Tourism Queensland to promote their province, their coast and specifically Hamilton Island area. Officially, the duties include swimming and watching fish, cleaning your own pool, some diplomatic duties, promoting the island and making a video blog post every week. Really though, It's a excuse to attract interest to the area.

It is working. They have have hundred of thousands check their website and look into the application process. I think more than ten thousand have applied.

On March second, the selection panel will announce 50 short-listed candidates. At some point after that, the group will be narrowed to eleven; ten that Tourism Queensland select and one chosen by popular vote. These eleven will be flown to Australia for interviews and, well, hoop-jumping.

I think my video is good but I don't know if it is top-fifty good. I consider the selection process to be basically a lottery and I hope mine is good enough to make into the lottery bucket. It is the best I could make and I don't want to give excuses but my old computer and original version of Movie Maker were pushed to their limits. The newer version, free and down-loadable, of Movie Maker doesn't work on my computer: after a refurbishing and memory upgrade, some functionality were lost.

Anyway, I think that voting for the eleventh spot does not take place until after March second. Still, you could rate my video highly if you want. It sure couldn't hurt.

I also suggest looking at other application videos. There are twenty-six that I saw from Korea (evening of Feb 17 -five more days to apply); have a look and give them some love while you're at it.

Note, the videos are little slow loading. Please be patient -with mine, you're welcome to be impatient with the others!

My video.

Ashley's video (another entrant from Gangwon)

List of entrants from Korea.

Coincidentally, I see it on Yahoo Canada's home page: a news report with a video link (I think it'll work - it will pop-up, however)

Updated Feb 22: another Gangwon entrant is on the list. Choi.

Seoul2B

A friend in Sokcho told me about two men driving home (to Britain) from Korea. I thought it sounded like an interesting adventure and didn't think much more about it.

Turns out, Chris Barrett and Rob Sutcliffe have a webpage and were interviewed by the Joongang Daily before starting out.

They had car trouble in Turkey, finding a Hyundai dealer but the dealer didn't have or service Gallopers. I guess they solved the problem as the last web entry has them in Georgia (Not in the US).

They are having an interesting adventure, but also fundraising for Macmillan Cancer support, UNICEF and Deslexia Action.

Oh, regarding the Gangwon connection; they took a ferry from Sokcho:

"The trip will start at the beginning of September with a ferry trip from Sokcho to Vladivostok. Having checked out the boat, Sutcliffe said, “It looks like a jjimjilbang that’s about to sink.”

I think that's the Dong Chung ferry; I am not aware of any others.

Apparently, I can skate.

I am at an English camp for elementary school students and yesterday we went skating.

Before we went, campers asked if I could skate and at first I nonchalantly replied, "yes". After being asked again and again, I began to think about the question. It has been about fifteen years since I last skated. I began to offer more qualified responses.

Man, I can skate! I'm a bit of a superstar when it comes to skating - in Gangneung, anyway. Despite my boastful tone, I am not really proud of myself...No, that's wrong; I am proud of myself but not exactly boasting. I didn't think I would be able to skate well at all and was very pleasantly surprised by how I managed. I didn't necessarily do well, but I did much better than I expected.

Lost in the joy of effortless speed and grace, I ignored how the rented skates dug into my skin and didn't pay attention into how hard I was working my leg muscles.

Now, a day later, I have 500 won coin-sized patches of skin missing from my feet and ankles. Also, I legs are slowly tightening up. It feels as though I am being bent over a rack and every time I sit down for a few minutes, the rack is ratcheted one gear-tooth tighter. Tomorrow, or possibly Friday, I will be nearly unable to walk.

I need to look for a rink in Sokcho.

Thanks, El camino packer

On Friday, I met the El Camino Packer and I tried out his stand up paddleboard. He arrived at the beach before I did and I walked to the water's edge seeing him paddling nonchalantly along.

I tried to be polite and listen to him as he explained how to use the board but I was mostly thinking, "Let go!"

Turns out, it isn't nearly as easy as he makes it look. Below should be a video (I can't see it while editing) of me trying to paddle his board while he narrates.

Amphibians

This morning, I took the little guy out to catch a few critters. A while ago, I bought a little plastic terrarium at E-Mart (typically for the big-ass bugs they sell) and we took it and my wife's pasta strainer (I had better clean it up well before she comes home!).

I thought it cool that we were able to find tadpoles with almost no legs, frogs with long tails and a tiny but tailless frog - three stages at the same time. I wonder if the eggs hatched at different times or if frogs develop at varying rates.
We then went to a different pool and found salamanders. They were much better swimmers and it took me several tries to catch them. A month ago, they appeared as very streamlined tadpoles with a narrower head and slight protrusions where the legs would be - I couldn't catch them so I don't know if they did have legs at that time.
The little guy studying our catch, dinosaurs in hand.
We released the salamanders where we caught them. Here, KwandongAlex releases the frogs back into their pond.
This pic is my "Loch Ness Monster" pic. Its blurry enough to be anything you want it to be.

Before our little excursion, I coated my son with sunblock. So, no sunburn, but he did have a little trouble while scrambling over rocks. He scraped his knee and shed a little blood. Still, I think it makes him look healthier - all little guys should have bruised knees. If they don't, they are spending too much time indoors.

Ye Ole Swimmin' hole

Can an ocean beach be a 'swimming hole'? I've always thought of semi-secret bends of a river as swimming holes. Anyway...

Just north of the lighthouse in Sokcho are a group of submerged and half-submerged boulders that make an excellent diving platform and provide a substrate for a dynamic ecosystem.

As with any good swimming hole, getting there is a challenge - you have to scramble down the breakwater tetrahedrons to reach the narrow beach.

Last year, the beach wasn't nearly so narrow. Here, I have (crappily) photoshopped in the beach as it appeared in 2007.
I am balancing on the two rocks in an area that was half this depth last year. More than a metre of sand has been swept away.
Mussels of the intertidal zone.
A group of conscript soldiers enjoying some time off.


A soldier took the above picture of me as well as this video of me swimming through an under water tunnel that, last year, was also underground.




While swimming, I found many schools of fish, a crab intermittently seen through the jungle of seaweed and a pair of nudibranches ( I think - they were as big as my head, black and dark brown and had a few snail- or slug-like tentacles). I also found a squirtgun and a pair of goggles.

Oh, last year, I found a pair of goggles with the adhesive covers still on the lenses - I guess someone bought them, tried them and could hardly see, didn't realize that the tape should be removed, and threw them away. This story has nothing to do with the swimming hole, I just think it's funny.

The Homind and the police

Cory Doctorow, a sort-of Canadian*, is a big defender of civil liberties and maintaining public rights. On his blog Boing-boing, he frequently publicizes the run-ins everyday citizens have with law enforcement infrigning on their legal rights. I would say his most common posts are on people being on public property and being told they cannot take photographs. There is an interesting post on his blog about a man interviewing a manager at New York's Union Station where she tells the interviewer that photos are legal even as a security man arrives to tell them they can't take photos. His other bugaboo is copyright and he is currently agitating about Canada's upcoming copyright bill.


The Big Hominid has had some interesting run-ins with the police lately. One often hears of officers stopping, I don't know, vagrants or hobos, as they try to enter a town and directing them away or driving them through the town out the other side. I can see why they would do this as a convenience to themselves but people should have a right to walk where they want to go.

Isn't this how Rambo started out? When will people learn?


Both situations were handled very politely. The first appeared to be a sort of neighbourhood watch:

It turns out that the gent in the pickup was an off-duty policeman who called in the fact that a backpacker was strolling into town, which I suppose is why Officer Chuck checked me out.

A commenter at the above post wrote about getting permission to walk on publicly-owned roads. That sounds a little hinky to me:

One of the things I learned from Steve Vaught's Fat Man Walking blog is that, at least in some states, you can get permission from the state highway department to walk along roads where pedestrians are ordinarily prohibited. Something we'll need to look into.

On the second occasion, an officer helped the Hominid across a dangerous section of bridge; it had no shoulder or sidewalk and he had to walk sideways with his luckily-much-smaller gut hanging in traffic before the officer helped him out. He got in an interesting discussion with the officer about the legalities of walking on the side of the road.

I'm not sure I understood (or even correctly recall) the answer. If I'm not mistaken, Officer Boisen's basic point was that, even though it was technically legal to walk 522, the road wasn't "intended for" (his words) pedestrian traffic. The legal implications of "intended for" are lost to me; I'm curious to look up the actual law relevant to what happened today-- not because I dispute Officer Boisen's interpretation of it, but because I want to be clear about it in future, so as not to cause any trouble.

I want the Hominid to be safe and take no unnecessary risks but, at this rate, he may start sympathizing with the Radical-Right, Compound-Living, gubment-hating, religious fanatics. Hey, what an interesting way to start a dialogue, an inter-religious dialogue based on common concerns -way-ta-go, hypothetical-future Hominid!

My own viewpoint is that pedestrians or any users of alternative transportation should not be looked at as second-class citizens.

---___---
I think Doctorow went to school in Canada but he is really a citizen of the world. I think he currently lives in England.

The Hominid has landed!

He is in Canada overnight before starting his walk home. Our mutual friend, Nathan, found him a place to stay and carried him in "the last vehicle I'll be riding in for the next year or two."

The man, the myth...

Maybe even the (blogging) legend, The Big Hominid is moving. As always, I will probably keep him on my blogroll for another month before fixing the link.

He will be preparing for a wonderful sounding walk across the US in support of inter-religious dialogue and news on the subject can be found here.

I guess that people who set off on endurance trips don't compare themselves to others - the motivation comes from inside, not from outdoing another traveller's accomplishment. I hope that's the case, because I enjoy endurance travel with the huge opportunity for personal reflection and my bicycle trip across Canada (78th time I've been able to work that into a post!) is far overmatched by the scale of his trip.

In the linked post, he states that his walk may whittle him down to a less freakish size. Perhaps he has been in Korea too long; I think that once he arrives in America, he will be average sized and average shaped. I should say North America (or even Northern North America) because Canadians are no smaller.

If he imagined marching through the woods with other hikers making claims of seeing Bigfoot, well, he should have stayed here. Besides, as a half-Korean, I doubt his feet are beyond size 10 and he can probably buy shoes anywhere (sorry, the complaints of this large-footed author are not relevant here).

I'll be following his march as closely as I can and wish him the best.

sledding by the apartment

The hill was tiny but we had a great time. I think that comes through even with the low picture quality. We are all wearing Alaska hats- a Christmas gift from my sister. A great time for the Kwandong-family.

RIP, Sir Edmund Hillary

One of the world's great heros has passed away. (Yahoo News)

Shark warning issued

The Joongang Ilbo has a shark warning up. The warning is mostly for the South and West Seas although one large shark was caught off of Kyeongsang Buk Province.

I've swam with sharks and once felt more than a little nervous about my situation. Nothing bad or even really threatening happened..oh, all right, I'll tell my story:

I'm a great swimmer. I'm not bragging exactly; I trained for fifteen years and put the time and effort in. After university, my decline started.

My story takes place in Australia. It was a night dive. Earlier that day, I had had trouble descending; my ears didn't adjust to the pressure well and that was a first - I used to dive at full speed. On this dive, my partner pulled ahead and I suffered a leg cramp. Working through the pain, I caught up to him and tapped him. He looked at me, didn't see anything wrong and swam off again. For the first time in my life, I had trouble catching up to a dive partner.

Soon after, we prepared to surface. Australia, or the province we were in, required decompression stops just in case. There we were, sitting five metres under the dive boat, in a black sea and expected to remain for several minutes. Just at the edge of our lights, I could see shark eyes glittering and disappearing, glittering and disappearing.

Five minutes later, we got out.

I guess its not a thrilling story. I guess my point is, even I, a strong and knowledgeable swimmer, sometimes get the willies when shore is more than a minute away. The warning is not for my area, but I will be scanning a little more often and staying closer to shore than previously, I am sure.