Every Other Saturday

The conversations you have along the way are part of what makes a good hike a good hike.  In the case of this past weekend, there were a few Konglish conversations that provided the icing on the cake!

Conversation Number 1:

First, a blast from the past.  As Jeff and I were making our descent this past trip, we recalled a memorable moment from our first hike that I forgot to mention.  A huge gust of wind picked up and whipped around a ridge in the mountain.  Leaves swirled and my hair twirled.  It was one of those magical moments that leaves everyone with a sense of awe and wonder.  An older Korean man who was stopped nearby looked at us with bright eyes and formed two perfectly chosen words in English: "Exciting ~ Wonderful!"  Somehow, his limited, simple English captured the moment with precision and elegance.

Conversation Number 2:

"Dangerous!  Shoes - Bad - No!" These were words of wisdom spoken to us by a hiking veteran as Jeff and I eyed a rather steep rock slope.  We wanted to take up the challenge of scaling the mountain face, and half-attempted to before we called off the climb and redirected our route.  The terrain was one of smooth rock face that was angled just a little too steeply to walk or crawl up.  Our calves were already burning, and we didn't trust the gripping abilities of our shoes.  We watched as the Korean man grappled up the rock face, and were surprised and re-inspired when he changed his mind and offered an encouraging, "Come!" with a thumbs up sign.  I put one foot in front of the other.  Tested the grip of my shoes.  And then sheepishly hopped back down to a safer spot.  This route just wasn't in the cards for us this time around.

Conversation Number 3:

In a rather high-traffic section of the trail, we encountered a rather inspiring man of 75 years.  He spoke shockingly good English (not that it was perfect, but I was very impressed with his ability to communicate given his age).  As we chit-chatted about where we were from, why Korea is the best, and how great the hiking was, we were proud to boast that it was our second time on these particular trails.  Then he informed us that he came here every day.  Correction, he either goes skiing or hiking every single day.  "365!" he boasted, with a gleaming smile.  His eyes sparkled as he proudly reminded us that he was 75 years old.  And he deserved to boast!  He was in incredible shape!  Granted, Korean age is a little different from Western age, but even with the conversion in place, he sits around 73 years old.  Still extremely impressive, in my opinion.  Compared to his dedication to outdoor adventures and health, our "twice a month" hiking plan paled just a bit.  It's still the most practical for us, but it seemed funny to boast of our every-other week hikes, which, having only gone for a month, currently amount to two.  Ah, perspective changers, haha.

Conversation Number 4:

Midway through our hike, we encountered a middle-aged Korean man who handed us little pieces of chocolate while we were stopped at a scenic outlook.  My "감사함니다," (thank you) gave him the false impression that I understood enough Korean to carry on a conversation, and thus an hour long guided tour began.  Along the way, he fed us informational tidbits that I could only half understand, and volunteered to take a few pictures of us.  His kind, slightly over-bearing gestures all made sense at the end, when suddenly I found myself on the phone with his 29 year old son who asked if I was married.  We both awkwardly laughed when I said yes.  He apologized and informed me that his dad's phone call woke him up, and he wasn't quite sure what we should be talking about.  I handed the phone to Jeff and they exchanged phone numbers.  I'm guessing he wants a chance to practice English, but who knows - this could be the beginning of a new friendship... or just a really awkward correspondence.

Conversation Number 5:

"Big!"  "Very Hungry!"  This is what the man at the Korean restaurant (more like home-made fort with country-style Korean cooking) shouted to the cook.  Jeff and I had come prepared with a whopping single peanut butter and jelly sandwich and minimal other munchable snacks.  Now, remember, we went on a day-long hike.  One PB&J doesn't go to far when split between two hungry people.  As you can imagine, we were a tad low in the blood-sugar department when we arrived at the bottom.  Thankfully the restaurant owner had our back!  He served us our drinks, food, and then some extra food (service, as they call it) with an understanding smile on his face.  Dinner was probably the most entertaining part of the day, as we unwound with a little mahkohli (traditional rice wine) that tasted great and made for a fun time, but did little to help dehydration.  By the end of the night, a quaint old man put in his request for a picture with the only foreigners on the mountain! When it was time to use the outhouse, the entire staff jumped up to help me.  One apologetic woman in particular brought me around back and offered to stand guard if I wanted to relieve myself in the open air behind the building.  She was concerned I would be too afraid of the chained up, barking dogs to venture to the outhouse, and then possibly be too uncomfortable using the squaty.  Let's be real, though.  Even big dogs in Korea are small.  And I've had plenty of practice with the squaties by now.  (Sorry if that was too much information!)

Conversation Number 6:

 [ ... ] 
Silence. 
Exhaustion. 
A sleepy subway ride home.