Big City Life, Small Town Gal

One of my favorite things to do is go hiking. I found this out last year while living in Yeosu, surrounded by small mountains, hiking several times a week. I feel so blessed that I have access to a small mountain behind my house this year, in the big city of Busan. There is so much hustle & bustle in the city, sometimes it makes my head start spinning. There is something special about a mountain near a city. There is this line, this crossing zone, that one step over, you can hear the city sounds, but one step in the other direction is calm, quiet, bird songs, fresh air, greenery, shade from trees, the natural world.

I took my first backyard hike the second weekend I was here in Busan & I took it alone. I found a little village and ate some delicious food from there. It is not common for people to eat alone in Korea so I was a little bit shy/uncomfortable to go sit in the tent (yes, it was a little rustic outdoor restaurant), but I put on my brave face because I knew I would be delighted by the food, and it wasn't to my surprise that the food was amazing!!! It was called Ga-Ma-Sot Bori-bap. It was rice and you mixed vegetables and sauce together with it and lots of side dishes...all for 3,500 won which is a little less than $3. My stomach was so happy and I was glad I made the decision to be brave and get some food.

I liked the hike so much, I decided that I needed to take some friends along the next time. My roommate from EPIK orientation, Angelle, came along, plus Greta, who I also met at orienation & her friend Rie who was visiting from Japan, as well as my friend Roman. We went hiking around 2pm and got home sometime around 7pm. This time was just as great as the first, but in a different way. Two older Korean women, sitting down at a lookout point gave all of us candy & took our picture so we could have all of us in a group shot. There are also exercise areas with lots of exercise machines on several parts of the mountain. We played on the equipment which was a lot of fun. I took them to the same tent restaurant & we ate until we could eat no more & also drank dong-dong ju which is a type of Korean rice wine.

Although I am living in the big city, I feel I am a small town/country gal at heart. I am so thankful to have nature in my backyard, literally. I couldn't ask for more.