For everyone who doesn’t know, my job here (the reason for moving to South Korea) is an English teacher. I am pretty sure everyone knew that, but I figured I would remind everyone. Future posts will talk about that experience and the many things that go along with that, but to talk about the hiking trip I need to mention that during the week of midterms this trip happened. Okay, so midterms happened last week. This resulted in no teaching and half days the whole week. I took this time to do some planning and actually went out of town a couple of times for errands. These trips were by myself (or “solo,” like the Koreans like to say it) except for this one hiking trip that is going to be described now.
It was Monday and after lunch all the teachers loaded up onto a tour bus to go on a hiking trip. It is a bonding experience and a way to get out and enjoy nature. The destination was a little over an hour ride from our school. Before getting there on the bus some snacks and drinks were handed out to everyone on the bus. Nothing that strange until I realised the drinks were beers. So we are riding along on the bus drinking some beers (or coffee for those who didn’t want beer) and eating various snacks such as: chocolates, cucumber, dried squid (tasted like a jerky), almonds, etc. Everyone is conversing and enjoying the drinks. Once we get to the mountain we all get ready to start hiking up the mountain, and start on our way after a group picture was taken at the beginning of the trail. Obviously different people broke off into different groups because of skill level. It was a nice scenic hike but I had my work shoes and clothes on because I was never really informed about the trip. About a quarter of the way up is a resting area where we did stop, and when I did get there they offered me some more beer (these teachers loaded the rest from the bus into their backpacks). I simply wanted my water, but it was pretty funny. After a short break we kept going eventually going quite a ways. I made it to the top with one of the quicker groups. The view was neat. Going back down I was talking with one of the teachers who was wearing a ball cap with the dive flag on the cap. With that being the case we were talking about scuba diving. He is a dive master and does teach it at school on some occasions. So I was asking him about the diving and we were trading some dive stories. Kind of funny how hiking up a mountain and I still end up finding a way to talk about scuba diving.
After making it to the bottom of the mountain it was prearranged for us to have dinner together. It was nice to feed us after hiking for a good two and a half hours. The restaurant was a Korean barbecue place. At these places all the side dishes are laid out on the table and then the meat is brought to the customer raw. There is a grill right in front of you where you cook your own meat and then eat it along with the sides. Another interesting note that some people might not know is that at every Korean place you eat on the floor and shoes are left at the front and not allowed inside. This concept goes for everything, and actually some schools (not mine) even have a no shoe policy. In this case usually “flip-flops” are worn inside. So at this particular restaurant we are inside sitting on the floor with no shoes. Once everyone arrived from hiking they started giving out the meat and we proceeded to cook at each various station. (picture below might show it better than words) Another interesting thing that is different here in Korea is the consumption of alcohol at work dinner gatherings. Before eating somebody walked around pouring everyone a shot and a toast (at least that’s what I think it was considering it was in Korean) was made and everyone drank the shot. Plus throughout the dinner people would walk around offering shots to other people. How it is supposed to work is the younger teacher would offer a drink to the older teacher. That teacher would drink it and then using the same glass pour a shot for the teacher that offered it in the first place. This person then moves onto the next person all along down the line. I lost track how many bottles were used throughout the evening. The drink that is used is called “soju.” It’s a rice based alcohol that doesn’t have too much flavor. Meanwhile this is happening everyone is busy cooking and eating the meat. The meat was smaller cut up meat that once cooked is bite size. The dinner was good and interesting. Since that Monday there have been two other times where we have had dinner together with all the teachers. It seems like here in Korea it is common for all the co-workers to go out together. Overall I think this concept is a good thing. Well here are some pictures of the hiking trip. I will write later.
It was Monday and after lunch all the teachers loaded up onto a tour bus to go on a hiking trip. It is a bonding experience and a way to get out and enjoy nature. The destination was a little over an hour ride from our school. Before getting there on the bus some snacks and drinks were handed out to everyone on the bus. Nothing that strange until I realised the drinks were beers. So we are riding along on the bus drinking some beers (or coffee for those who didn’t want beer) and eating various snacks such as: chocolates, cucumber, dried squid (tasted like a jerky), almonds, etc. Everyone is conversing and enjoying the drinks. Once we get to the mountain we all get ready to start hiking up the mountain, and start on our way after a group picture was taken at the beginning of the trail. Obviously different people broke off into different groups because of skill level. It was a nice scenic hike but I had my work shoes and clothes on because I was never really informed about the trip. About a quarter of the way up is a resting area where we did stop, and when I did get there they offered me some more beer (these teachers loaded the rest from the bus into their backpacks). I simply wanted my water, but it was pretty funny. After a short break we kept going eventually going quite a ways. I made it to the top with one of the quicker groups. The view was neat. Going back down I was talking with one of the teachers who was wearing a ball cap with the dive flag on the cap. With that being the case we were talking about scuba diving. He is a dive master and does teach it at school on some occasions. So I was asking him about the diving and we were trading some dive stories. Kind of funny how hiking up a mountain and I still end up finding a way to talk about scuba diving.
After making it to the bottom of the mountain it was prearranged for us to have dinner together. It was nice to feed us after hiking for a good two and a half hours. The restaurant was a Korean barbecue place. At these places all the side dishes are laid out on the table and then the meat is brought to the customer raw. There is a grill right in front of you where you cook your own meat and then eat it along with the sides. Another interesting note that some people might not know is that at every Korean place you eat on the floor and shoes are left at the front and not allowed inside. This concept goes for everything, and actually some schools (not mine) even have a no shoe policy. In this case usually “flip-flops” are worn inside. So at this particular restaurant we are inside sitting on the floor with no shoes. Once everyone arrived from hiking they started giving out the meat and we proceeded to cook at each various station. (picture below might show it better than words) Another interesting thing that is different here in Korea is the consumption of alcohol at work dinner gatherings. Before eating somebody walked around pouring everyone a shot and a toast (at least that’s what I think it was considering it was in Korean) was made and everyone drank the shot. Plus throughout the dinner people would walk around offering shots to other people. How it is supposed to work is the younger teacher would offer a drink to the older teacher. That teacher would drink it and then using the same glass pour a shot for the teacher that offered it in the first place. This person then moves onto the next person all along down the line. I lost track how many bottles were used throughout the evening. The drink that is used is called “soju.” It’s a rice based alcohol that doesn’t have too much flavor. Meanwhile this is happening everyone is busy cooking and eating the meat. The meat was smaller cut up meat that once cooked is bite size. The dinner was good and interesting. Since that Monday there have been two other times where we have had dinner together with all the teachers. It seems like here in Korea it is common for all the co-workers to go out together. Overall I think this concept is a good thing. Well here are some pictures of the hiking trip. I will write later.
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| Drink and Snacks |
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| Green bottles are some of the Soju bottles |
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| Grill where the meat was cooked |
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