Dosan Seowon
Up first is the Dosan Seowon, it was built in the 1560’s and
is an old Confucian School. It was considered one of the best Confucian schools,
where the teaching of Yi Hwang were taught to the future generation of disciples.
I was first told about this place by a member of the climbing club when we
drove past it on the way back from my first true excursion with them. It was a
lot more enjoyable than I expected. The buildings had been repaired/ replaced
but everything looked as it was originally. Walking around it was crazy to
think people were studying here over 500 years ago. And at the time it was
state of the art. The rooms were open and the “dorms” were just tiny rooms. And
the squares where the staff that took care of the place lived were tiny, they
were like wooden boxes. They had put the library at the top of the hill to
protect the books from rain damage. Either way it was a very beautiful scene, especially
with it being covered in snow. 
Andong Ice fest
Amsan is a small area on the edge of Andong and they have a
short and little advertised ice fest every year. I went this year and it was a
lot of fun. There were families everywhere and ice fishing everywhere. I knew I
would be going to another fest later in the week so I didn’t ice fish but I did
watch as the people of all ages sat on the ice and fished. It was literally a
football field size area with holes drilled about 6ft from each other in every
way. They were catching small fish about the size of my ring finger. That was
not the only thing at the fest there was ATV riding in which I had to do. The track
was half ice and half snow covered ice so you would get your speed on the snow
and slide all over the ice. That was a lot of fun, at times becoming bumper
cars. There were many ice sculptures and kids skating. One kid came from behind
me and hit me with a snow ball and when I turned around he ran away to his
mother. I was going to throw one back but I didn’t want to in front of his mom.
The best part may have been the wall of ice. It was a mountain side just covered
in ice. The best way to explain it is through the pictures I have attached.
Take a look. That pretty much wraps up that one.
Singsing ice fest
Later that week I went to the SingSing fest. It was
basically an ice fishing festival. That was the main thing to do. I went with
my friend Hannie and we wanted to catch some fish. I was expecting small fish
like the Andong fest. Well I was wrong. We get our rod? Stick? Not sure what to call it. You will have so see
it. It comes with the lure and we find a hole on the ice. The instant we put
the lure in Hannie starts to freak out, she has a bite and is bringing it in
and it’s heavy. I look in the hole and start laughing. Our excitement was over
a black plastic bag that is filled with what we think is bait. Fail! A guy
about 5 holes over catches one and it’s not the small fish I was expecting. It’s
a rainbow trout about a foot long. I was amazed. After about 30 minutes with
nothing we move to a different spot. I look down and I see a big trout on the
bottom just sitting there. I lower the line and hit it, it does not move so we assume
it’s dead. So I tried to hook it on the side and “catch it” when it takes off. Another
Fail! Haha so after about one hour fishing in all we call it quits and head to
the island we know is near-by. 
Namisam
After about a 30 minute walk and a 3 minute cab ride we get
to the place (We got in a cab at the last minute not knowing we were so close).
There is bungee jumping and zip lining and my adventure alarm is going off. I
was stoked to zip line onto the island. Nope not going happen it was all closed
up for the winter. Probably better that way, it would be very cold. Instead we
take a ferry for a whole 3$ there and back. I had heard of the island, it’s in
a very popular Korean Drama called Winter Sonata. They treat it as its own country;
we went under an area called Immigration on the way over. Wow it was very
beautiful and very lively with a lot of people. We were able to walk around the
whole thing in the cold. Many of the roads were lined with Tall straight trees.
Making for great photo opportunities, it would have been great it there was no
one else there to get in the way. Not much to say about the island other than
it was beautiful. Take a look for yourself.
World cup
As everyone knows I am a huge soccer fan. In Seoul there is
the World Cup Stadium where some of the 2002 World Cup soccer games were held. It
took me about an hour on the subway to get there but when I do I am impressed.
The subway drops me off right in front of it. There are parks surrounding it
with basketball courts and soccer fields. I heard there are tours and a museum
that is open every day. So I start just walking around the whole thing. I get
about halfway around when I get to the entrance. I have been on many ball park
tours in the states and I think the cheapest has been 10$. This was a museum
and a self-guided tour into the locker rooms, video room, and the entire behind
the scenes area. Along with going to the sidelines and being on the grass. It
was really cool; the museum was fun and interactive with many things to do. It
was not just focusing on the 2002 world cup but all of the world cups. O the
price yeah it was 1,000 Won which is under a dollar. What a deal, and what a
great time. All the history and the legends that walked before you were amazing
to think about. The 2002 World Cup was one of the major reasons that South
Korea is known today. 
Ice world cup
After 4 days in Seoul I got back to Andong on Saturday night
at about 10. The next morning at 8am I was meeting up with the climbing club to
go to the Ice climbing world cup. No way am I missing out on that. It was an
early morning but I didn’t care. When we arrive we have about an hour to watch
as the competitors raced up a sheet of ice using ice picks and spiked shoes. It
was crazy how fast they moved up the wall. Especially the Russians, they
dominated that event. Then we had lunch and hiked up the mountain. This would
have been nearly impossible if not for my new crampons (spikes you put on boots
for walking on ice). It was a very steep but beautiful hike. But I do hate when
you get to the peak and there is not an opening in the trees for a great
picture. At the end of the hike there was a tent to feed and hydrate the
hikers. Well I think hydrate; they were passing out rice wine. Wow once again I
was popular, once the people running the tent saw me they handed me everything.
I had an apple in one hand, rice cakes in another and there trying to hand me
fish patties and rice wine. I had not room for it but I had to make room. It
was crazy, nothing like that would happen back home. You can’t tell a foreigner
from an American. When we got back to the competition it was one where they
used the ice picks and shoes to climb up about 15 feet of ice then the rest is
holds and just insane stuff on a wooden surface. Just look at the pictures. I
can’t even explain it. Youtube ice climbing, it’s amazing what these people can
do. That is just the start of the winter
adventures. My birthday is coming up and I have two big hikes planned back to
back. Oo and teaching is back but I will tell you about that next time. 
Just hanging out in Seoul.
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