Hiking Bulamsan with Rudith and Jennifer

As we neared the end of our stay in Korea, Jonathan and I wanted to try to see as many of our friends as possible. A week or so before we would finish our work in Seoul, we contacted two of our good friends who had been in our All-Day Club back in January and February, and who had been students in Jonathan's English class during that term as well. Rudith and Jennifer both excelled in English during their time at the institute and it was nice to see them at vespers and church as well, since they are both Adventists, too. We wrote to both of them, asking if we could meet with them before we left Seoul. Jennifer responded and arranged for us to hike Bulamsan (Mt. Bulam) on our last Sunday before the term ended.

So June 24 saw us waking up early, packing a lunch and lots of water in a backpack, and meeting Jennifer at the front of the institute by 6:30 a.m. As we waited for the bus that would take us to the outskirts of Seoul, she told us a little bit about how the bus system worked and showed us a sign in the bus stop that showed which buses would be coming soon. That would have been wonderful to know at the start of our time in Seoul! After about 15 minutes of waiting, our bus arrived and we clamored on and found seats in the back. Then we chatted for the 20-minute ride to the entrance of Sahmyook University, the SDA university in Seoul. At the entrance we met Rudith and waved hello to her mother. Poor Rudith had been working at a hospital since March and had an unpredictable schedule, which made it impossible to continue coming to the institute for English classes. She was quite embarrassed when we first met up because she felt like she'd forgotten all of her English she had learned several months before. I completely understood and told her about my nine years of French classes and my still not being able to piece together a single sentence in French, even after all those years of studying the language. As we talked and walked, and Rudith listened to us, she gradually started joining in our conversation and stopped asking Jennifer to translate everything for her. We all enjoyed the time we spent together walking through the university campus, hiking up and back down the mountain, and eating lunch together afterward. We were so glad we'd been able to see these two friends before we left South Korea!

On the way up we went by this pond

The mountain

Ali found a nice swing to rest on - actually a walking type of exercise machine

First view of Seoul in the distance

Tree

Our guides Jennifer (right) and Rudith (left)

Emergency helicopter landing pad

Looking ahead toward the top - getting closer!

Seoul

Nearing the top

Lots of stairs

Finally at the top! Pretty hazy but a great view anyway.

Another peak nearby

Jennifer posing by the flag on the summit

Summit marker

Made it!

Great pose!

Walking stick

Kimchi!

Taking a nap

Yet another view of Seoul... in case you didn't see the other three...

Snacks that our guides kindly brought along

Descending from the top requires a rope

Now-abandoned bunker

Group shot

Heading down

Back at the pond, we saw lots of fish...

...and cooled off our tired feet...

...and rested in our various ways

Magpie - Jennifer told us that when you see a magpie it means that you'll see a good friend soon

Nice garden near the campus

On the campus of Sahmyook University

The mountain in the background

6/3 bridge at the Sahmyook University bus stop - see the 3 and 6? Three is sahm in Korean and six is yook, therefore sahm-yook.
Jennifer also told us that sahm and yook have religious meanings as well.

Farewell supper at VIPS

A couple weeks before the end of June, Dr. Yoon, the director of my office, told me that our whole office would be going out to eat on June 19. The next week, while walking to work with In Sun, the assistant director, I found out that we were going out to eat as a goodbye meal for me. When June 19 came, we all left the office right at 6 p.m. (something that pretty much never happens since most workers stay to work overtime) and walked together to the main road where we caught several taxis. A few minutes later, once over the stream and into the shopping and restaurant section of our part of Seoul, we hopped back out of the taxis. Then we quickly crossed the road, and headed into VIPS Restaurant on the second floor of a glass-fronted building. Our group included 16 people and we had to sit at two tables, which was unfortunate since we couldn't all socialize together that way. But the table I was at was lovely to visit with and the buffet and salad bar was great! It was a nice evening spending time with each other and I am so thankful that we got to enjoy this special time together as an office before I left.

My placemat - what I never needed to know...

Table 1 (L-R): In Sun, Chilli, Hee Young, Coco, Coco's husband, Dr. Yoon & In Sun's son Daniel

Table 2 (L-R): Ali, Pat, Kyung, Jewel, a lady who works in a co-office, Michelle, Ann, Robin (AKA my Korean mama) & Leeza
(Unfortunately, Jin must have been gone to get more food when this picture was taken...)