Military, River, Mountain

This morning, I heard a ton of ruckus downstairs with firetrucks and ambulances and such. I figured it wasn't a big deal since there's a police station across the road with lots of traffic in and out. When I walked outside, I saw 4 big military trucks with men inside dressed in camo and face paint. Then, I turned onto a side street, and there were a bunch of military men sitting crouched behind a building with their guns up in the air!! It was kind of scary... But I kept walking and didn't look back :) Later, I saw the same guys laughing and hanging out together near their trucks. I'll bet someone important was coming into town (there's an "Air Terminal" down the road). That or they were preparing for some sort of attack. I guess you can let your minds go wild with this one. I'll never know what that was all about...

Father on that walk, I found the river! I knew there was one close, but didn't quite know how to get to it. It has a really pretty view of the city apartments as well as the mountains in the background. My computer's not working quite right, so I can't upload pictures quite yet. But they're coming :) By the way, the name of the mountains nearby are called Soraksan. And that's the name of the Subway Station in front of my house :) So it's easy for me to remember!

I walked back to the main road and headed the other way. Towards the mountains. On my walk, there was a little stream fountain thing flowing down the road. So I figured I wouldn't get lost if I followed it. When I ran into groups of people talking, most of the time they'd quit talking and watch me walk by. After a few times of this, I started to say, "Annyeonghaseyo!!" (Hello) and they'd all laugh and say the same back :) It feels nice to make them smile...

There are many little shops all along the roads that you can tell are especially for hikers. They have hiking gear, cold soups, snacks, galbi restaurants, benches, etc. It's definitely going to be quite the experience living here. I feel people know less English here than in Bundang. That could be a good thing though--it will force me to learn more Korean!!

Everyone, EVERYONE, was wearing boots, bandanas, hats, hiking pants, long sleeved shirts,
walking sticks, backpacks...It was pretty funny because I was wearing jeans, sandals, and a no-sleeved shirt. In my defense, I wasn't expecting to go hiking!! I love it because it's not too far from my house. Maybe a 15-20 minute walk or so. Half-way up, there was a spicket where I could get water flowing down the mountain, so I filled up my water bottle. On my way back, there was a mom with 2-3 little kids playing in the water. She started talking quickly to her kids, and one little girl about 2 years old looked at me, smiled, bowed, and yelled "Annyeonghaseyo" (Hello!). It was sooo cute!!

I had kimbap today (rolled seaweed, vegetables, and rice). I asked for soy sauce, and they almost wouldn't give me any because they thought that I was joking :) Hopefully I get to know them better like I knew the ladies at the other kimbap store in Migeum.

I noticed that my apartment has 3 floors of shopping inside. So on my way to explore it, I met a kid in the elevator who said hello and asked me my name. We talked for a little bit, and I realized that was the first time in hours that I had spoken English (or much of anything in Korean). When hiking, I don't really talk--and when I do, I'm practicing the few Korean words I know.

Well, that was my story for the day. Kind of exciting, but more just interesting little things all piled into one day. I promise that not every day will be this long of a post. Well, maybe the first few days of school since I'm so excited for classes to start!!