Jirisan

Had a field trip today to Mount Jiri, or Jirisan (san=mountain) in Korean. Its the largest mountain on the mainland but not all that high - 1,900 metres or so - considering the entire country is just mountains. I guess we can downgrade them to hills. This school only goes on 2 field trips a year and I only go to the school 2 days a week so the odds of me getting to go on it were pretty slim, so I was pretty lucky. Even luckier considering its a place I wanted to go to anyway, so it was a pretty sweet deal for me all around.

Only thing that wasnt on my side was the weather. It never actually rained, but it was foggy non stop and could barely see anything at all. Bit of a bummer, but it cleared up a bit towards the end. It also kept things a bit cool, which is a good thing when your hiking up a mountain.

Speaking of that, lucky it was bad weather because the original plan for the day involved some fairly serious hiking - up to 10 km's or so. We ended doing about 45 minutes and I thought after the end of it, about three quaters of the kids were going to pass out.

One of the best parts of the day was the lunch, even better because I had my camera. Check it out. Unbelieveable. First thing that comes to mind is I wouldnt want to be the dishwasher. Theres about 50 bowls and plates on the table. In these bowls are side dishes (veges), 2 massive chickens (that you have to pick meat from with chopsticks. Its so friggen hard. Its like eating ice cream with a knife or soup with a fork. My chopstick skills have improved, but not that much), an omlete type thing full of veges, bowls with hot water for soup (which you put rice, veges and chicken in), and condiments. As always, really good. Its quite a spectacle, and is enhanced when you have the attractive lady across from you pick up the bowl and drink directly from it, or the guy sitting next to you pick the entire chicken apart and leave a pile of bones the size of a football.



Theres not many great photos from the day because it was so foggy, but ive got a few below. One is out the front of a temple and the other is looking down the valley. Notice the cherry blossoms - the bright white flowers - they are out at this time of the year and are the famous flower of the country. They dont stay out very long and dot the landscape with a cool white haze.