Head for the hills, Pippi Longstocking!

So I started today by eating breakfast prepared by my host dad.  My host mom wasn't out of bed yet due to the fact that she was hungover from the night before.  As a result, dad ended up making ramen. He told me, "I'm sure this is the only time you'll have ramen for breakfast because it's considered fast food." LOL.
I said bid farewell to my host sister and my host mom got out of bed long enough to apologize and give me a goodbye present.  

 Look at me eating my ramen with chopsticks!

 Me with their doggy

Dad, brother and I got in the car and dad said, "I will show you Seosan.  We're going up there." and he points to a mountain.  I agree because it seems cool....until we get there...and I remember that I'm in Korea and, unlike America where we'd drive to the top of the mountain and snap pics, we're parking this Chevy at the base of the mountain and trekking up.

So we're a few steps in and I'm feeling it...and then we get farther up and I'm out of breath, y'all.  To add insult to injury, people young and old are trudging past me.  I try to think of reasons to stop (i.e., take a picture) and I start looking ahead to determine how much farther I have to go.  Finally we get to the top (and a sad, shallow part of me is glad that my little brother is huffing and puffing, too)

 
 and then dad points to the tower and says, "We're going up there."

 Again, all steps. So off we go.  I snapped this cool pic (stairs)

And headed to the top.  Man, was it worth the trek.

We head back down and I notice that there are people exercising at the top of this thing.  Umm, I thought the exercise was making it up here!?!? They've got parallel bars and everything up here. What's going ON in this country?!  I've decided that there's no reason why I shouldn't work out every day when I get home.  I mean, these people put me to shame.  Oh yeah, and then a middle school girl's track team ran past me and down the steps.

Sigh.

  

Following the trek up the mountain, my host family drops me off with the others so we can depart Seosan.  It was a little sad.  I told my host dad and brother I would miss them and I gave my little brother a hug...and he looked awkwardly at me...so I figured that in Korea they don't give hugs.  But in retrospect he could just be like every other guy in my life. :P

During our ride to our next adventure one of the ladies looks at me and says, "You look like Pippi.  Pippi." and put her hands on the side of her head to represent pigtails.  I laughed and said "Pippi Longstocking".  She pointed at her cheeks and said, "My husband say you look like Pippi".  And, honestly, I'm okay with that. Pippi was pretty badass and one of my favorite characters growing up.

Our final day in Seosan takes us to Seosan aae Samjon Bulsong (Seson Rock Carved Buddha Triad for the uninformed).  And I quote:
"This is the most highly regarded work among all the stone Buddha reliefs to be found in Korea, and is thought to be a work of the late Baekje period.  We can sense the mild and romantic temper of the Baekje people from the affectionate smile on the Buddhas' faces.  We can also feel the wisdom of the Baekje people when we see how their smiles change accordind to the direction of the light and when their smiles touch our hearts with the harmony of natural lighting.

The Standing Sakyamuni Statue, which is the principal Buddha of this triad, is carved in the center, while the Standing Bodhisattva and Seated Contemplateive Bodhisattva are situated on the left and right respectively.  The Standing Sakyamuni on the lotus pedestal has a halo at the back of his head, eyebrows shaped like a crescent moon and smiling lips.  The shape of his face gives us a benign impression, and is a very unique example of a Baekje Buddha statue.  The robe thrown over the shoulders and arms has a series of folds whose U-pattern is gracefully expressed, giving us a feeling of liveliness."

 Guess what?!?! To get there...you take stairs!!!

So we came back down the mountain and I took this video of the scenery.

Then we traveled 100 miles by foot to the Bowonsa Temple Site.  Okay, so it wasn't 100 miles but it was a few and it was far and it was insane.  As we trudged down the road, cars passed us and I wondered why we couldn't have taken the bus to the site.  I later found out that a member of our group requested that we walk so that he could get exercise (blank stare).  Anywho, the site contains a flag pole support and a five story pagoda. 

In order to access some of the sites, we had to cross a stream strewn with rocks...I'm not kidding.

Oh, by the way, one of the Korean ladies did this whole trek in HIGH HEELS!!!

We then took some group shots at these statues.

And the boys decided to pick me up.

 

And then we set off for lunch.  Our hosts took pity on us and treated us to PIZZA FOR LUNCH. HOLLA, BALLA!!!!

 We then headed over to the bed and breakfast and to prepare for our first presentation in Korean (!!!).

I'm using the term bed and breakfast midly, of course.  I should be using the word "compound".  The English translation for this place is "stone house" and the lady that owns it is a Rotarian.  She rent rooms out to visitors.

We made some finishing touches to our presentation and gathered to give our speeches.
    

Let's just say...our speeches need some more work. We followed this up with a farewell dinner and karaoke. A few of us got together and sang "Baby Got Back" and we got an astounding 96% (because in Korea karoake machines can judge your performance at the end of the song).