Are Chuseok'n To Me???: Episode III

    Raise your hand if you know me. Raise your hand if you know that I hate being maudlin and mushy and all lovey-dovey. Raise your hand if you also know that I am a closet romantic who silently (and sometimes not so silently) swoons over song lyrics, romantic gestures, and sappy old movies? If you are still raising your hand I would bet that I can pretty easily guess who you are..... because that's how few people know what a hopeless romantic I actually am. For the most part I try to be calm and collected, the cool cucumber in most situations, however the logistics of this kind of behavior are much more difficult to maneuver when swooning runs in your family. My sister is a swooner. My mother is a swooner. My grandmother is a swooner. And if I had known her, I can almost promise that I would be able to say my great-grandmother was a swooner, too. I distinctly remember as a little girl, watching romantic movies with Mom and Gram and thinking, "Oh geez. Here comes the part where everybody starts to cry!" Little did I know that some day I, too, would be headed for this same fate. I eat up "When Harry Met Sally." I adore "Sleepless in Seattle." And I probably hold the record for consecutive bouts of crying while watching "An Affair To Remember." I can't even tell you how many times I have worn out my welcome with the repeat setting on itunes because I just cannot get enough of my latest favorite love song. In case you haven't been paying attention, the confession I am making is that deep down, I melt over romance.

    Why is this important, you ask? What does this have to do with Asia? Is this girl going to come right out over Blogger and tell us all that she has a deep and undying love for kimchi and that we are all invited to the wedding next spring?? Well...... not quite. But I have fallen in love. What I mean is, I am pretty sure, after just 4 weeks, that I have hands down found my most favorite place in Korea, possibly the world.

    This past Thursday, Rachel, Alex, Jodi and I made a trip to Seoul Tower. This is a fairly large tourist spot in South Korea as it is one of the many significant towers in the world, comparable to the Eiffel, the Empire State, the Tokyo, and the Leaning of Pisa. It was something to be seen, for sure, one of the main things to check off the list, but I honestly was not aware of just how amazing it would be.

    It sits on the precipice of Namsan Mountain, gazing down on the city of Seoul. The mountain itself is overwhelmingly beautiful, especially this time of year as it is covered in greenery and often shrouded in mist. All four of us were glued to the windows of the taxi as we made our steep ride up the winding mountain road. Once we got to the top, or at least the landing closest to the top, we hopped out of the cab and were immediately awestruck. The view of the city from this point is absolutely breath taking! And we weren't even at the tower yet!

City of Seoul by means of Namsan

Once we collected our wits after the initial awe had subsided, we began our short, yet steep, hike up to the absolute summit where the tower rests. Walking up the path is like walking up a wall, the incline is repressive, but well worth it. Once you arrive at the top, you are welcomed by tranquility, despite the drones of tourists. One of the first things you come across at the top is the prayer chain that hangs at the edge of the summit. People come to the tower, way at the top of Namsan Mountain, to offer up their prayers on colorful ribbons. They write out their most cherished prayers and tie them to a wire at the edge of the mountain, overlooking the city below. When I saw this I was immediately reminded of the final scene of "An Affair to Remember" and I realized that people were bringing their prayers here because it is quite literally "the nearest thing to heaven."

A rainbow of hopes, dreams, and concerns

    After taking several moments to bask in the serenity of prayer, I wandered over in the direction of the tower where I found something equally as enchanting. Around the other side of the peak is another wire, or rather row after row of wires, where people hang their love. Locks of love, that is. People bring a lock to the mountain that they dedicate to someone they love, and hang it from the wire where it remains forever to stand as a record of sorts. I was overcome by sentiment as I looked at thousands upon thousands of love letters hanging in the twilight, high above the city lights below.

 

    

    About an hour later, once our number was finally called for the ride to the top of the tower, we were once again taken aback by the striking view that can only come from being 236 meters (774 feet) above the city. The thing I found most unique about this particular view was the lights. The city lights of Seoul are like a rainbow from up above! Not like in the states where most cityscapes tend to take on more-or-less of an amber hue since the majority of city lighting is yellow. Here the city lights are made up of almost every color imaginable - pink, teal, green, white, yellow, blue.... and everything in between! Unfortunately the pictures I took don't even begin to capture this spectrum of color, so it's something I will simply have to hold in my memory.

We  Namsan!

    And so it was on this day that I realized I will forever hold a special place in my heart for Namsan Mountain. Since I have been in Korea I have felt torn between two worlds. I am continuously grateful for the opportunity to travel the world and experience a new way of life. I am constantly amazed and thrilled by the novelty of new and exciting experiences, and I am truly enjoying making a place for myself in this faraway land. Yet at the same time I ache for the ones I love at home. There is not a moment that goes by when I don't think back on everyone I left behind and wish that I could somehow blend my two worlds and share all my amazing experiences with them. At this place, however, surrounded by the love and prayers of thousands of strangers, I somehow felt like I had done it. It felt as though within each individual prayer and each tiny lock there was a piece of home shining through. Because love and prayer have the ability to cross all boundaries, to travel all distances. And at this point I knew that no matter how far from home I may be, home would always be right here with me, radiating from the fervent love and prayers we share.

    Thursday was easily my most favorite day in Korea thus far, and I can say without a doubt, that this will most assuredly not be my last trip to Namsan Mountain. 

 

For your viewing pleasure!
From Korea with Love....