Chuseok

In Korea, they celebrate this holiday called Chuseok, it's a 3 day holiday in which they pray to their ancestors for a good harvest. It always falls right in the middle of the week - Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Whoever is planning out the holiday calendar is an idiot. Who wants 3 days off in the middle of the week and then have to work Monday and Friday!? This prevents further travel around this time period. DISLIKE. So Monday, after the work day was complete, our boss gave us all a Chuseok present - 4 cans of tuna in oil and 3 BOXES of seaweed! - Mmmmmm, my favorite! NOT! What the hell am I going to do with 3 boxes of seaweed? 3 Boxes!! The tuna, in oil not water, I could stomach if I was poor and starving. 

It was nice gesture though. With 3 days off ahead of me, I wasn't sure what to do. 

Tuesday I went for a run to the river and walked around the park but my ankle was hurting pretty bad so I decided to go back home. I noticed Monday that my ankle was swollen but didn't really think too much of it. Wednesday I didn't leave my house all day! I was so lazy! I stayed home, iced and elevated my swollen ankle and watched season 1 of Gossip Girl! It was cold and rainy all day so I probably wouldn't have gone outside anyways. 

Thursday I decided to be somewhat productive. Karissa and I got up early and went for a hike! We hiked up Palgongsan mountain to see this huge statue of Buddha balancing a book on his head, called Gatbawi. It was carved out of this mountain rock in the 7th century?? It was quite the hike if I do say so myself. It was like doing the stairmaster for a good 1 hour. It was also crowded. I think hiking is the most popular hobby among Koreans. The get all dressed up in these hiking outfits, climb the mountain without sweating, and then sit down for a full out meal on a hot plate and drink booze. It's insane. Chaos is the best word to describe the scene at the top of the mountain. There were probably at least 100 people praying on these little mats and lighting candles and such. It was quite the sight to see. Legend has it that if you pray for one wish whole heartedly at this statue, and if you really, really mean it, it will come true. I was tired but I tried to pray for my one wish meaningfully. Still hasn't come true yet thought...so I'm doubting the powers of this mountain Buddha. After we descended the mountain we proceeded to the next stop on the tour - this beautiful temple. It was under construction but still lovely nonetheless. After the temple we headed to the hot spring spa in this same area. Karissa had never been to a jinjabong (Korean bathhouse) before so this was her first go around with the naked Korean ladies! haha It wasn't what we expected it to be but it was still nice. They had many different pools but only 3 outdoor pools feed by the hot spring. It definitely wasn't as nice as the hot springs we visited in Taiwan, but it was still nice, just very crowded. We ended the day with a chicken club sandwich to celebrate all that we had accomplished and were home by 6! 

Next day it was time to go back to work...boo! My ankle was even worse the next day so I decided to go to the doctor before work. His english is not the best, but long story short I have a sprained ankle! I can't believe that I ran tuesday and then hiked on it thursday! No wonder it was hurting so bad! He gave me some meds to help with the swelling and told me to stay off of it, which is almost impossible. It was still hurting Tuesday, the day before we were supposed to leave for the Philippines, so I went back to the doctor and now I have to wear a splint on my foot for 2-3 weeks until all the tenderness is gone! Hopefully it heals itself soon because I want to get back to the gym!