Mount Bugakson

My personality in various circumstances wants control. There are times when I can go with the flow and I'm pretty chill about things but with big things I tend to want control or I begin to feel fearful and anxious. Since coming to Korea I've been learning to let go of that control. We have learned to remain flexible, keep a good sense of humor and don't panic. I've also tried to be a bit more spontaneous in trying things. You may be have thought I am pretty spontaneous but it's usually in more controlled settings that I'm familiar with. For example, visitors who just show up at our doorstep. My response is Yes! I love drop-ins who stay for dinner and then maybe decide to stay the night. But with unfamiliar things, I sometimes want a plan, the details.

A few days ago I met my friends Greg and Becky in Insadong. Becky has been visiting Greg here in Korea and I had the pleasure of joining them on many of their site seeing adventures. On this particular day, I was going to show them a few of my favorite spots in Insadong and then they were going to visit a palace near by. I had been to the palace the week before so I opted out on another visit. I was going to sit in a tea shop and read and perhaps do a little shopping in the area. Until . . .

Until I looked at Mount Bugakson. The mountain was shades of yellow, orange and red. It was breathtaking. I decided that I should be spontaneous, and go for a hike on Mount Bugakson. I went to the information center and asked how do I get "here!" on my map. The kind information lady explained how and off I went. Bus #2 to the top of the mountain. Walk 10 minutes to the trail. Enjoy.



I wasn't disappointed. The view was fantastic and the hike incredible. I sat at the top of the mountain overlooking Seoul for a while and then began my quiet and peaceful climb down.

That's when I got a little turned around. I ended up in a completely different area then where I had begun. An unfamiliar area. I felt a bit nervous at first but then thought to myself, "this is all part of your adventure today. enjoy it!" And so I did.

While I was standing by a map of the area I was in, I met Seori and her mom. They were also trying to find their way back to Insadong and offered for me to join them. Seori speaks great English so we made the trek back to Insadong and enjoyed a wonderful conversation.



My only regret of the day is that Todd and the kids weren't with me.