weekend with the winklers--hiking in the hills, singing, and a sandrich stop

Korean English (aka Konglish) always makes me smile.


Brad and Lynn, some friends from back home, stopped through Seoul on their 4 month Asia trip. It was such a special weekend. Rather than being a tour-guide, I was able to enjoy some new things myself, and it was a great treat to have company for a change.

We started the weekend with a hillside walk in a Shamanist community called Inwangsan.

We watched some ceremonial dancing.

Dancing, chanting, and drumming is the Shamanist's way of invoking the spirits.

There was also a sacrifice buffet. I'm not sure what you'd actually call it. It was quite a spread! Notice the pig carcass. Supposedly the spirits/gods get hungry too. So you want to keep them fed and happy.

Further along the path were some intriguing rocks. They call them the Dali Rocks because they look like a Salvador Dali painting. Women come to these rocks to pray for a son. I didn't do any praying here :)

We met this guy Sam (from London). He's the guy sitting on top of the big rock. He was quite a friendly guy and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with Brad and Lynn. I had to go to work. It's always so cool to meet other foreigners. There is a special bond between travelers, even though you are only acquinted for short moments.

And here we are (Lynn, Me, Brad) on the top of some hill.

After work, we went to Noraebang (Kareoke) with a few of my work friends.

We had heaps of fun!

Ami, singing her heart out. What's great is that she sings joyfully pretty much anywhere she is...I love that about her.

And this concludes Part 1 of my weekend with the Winklers.

Check back for some more great pictures and stories.

Note: Some of these pictures were taken by Brad. It was nice to have 2 cameras this weekend because I could relax and let someone else take a few of the pictures. So...great credit to Brad! Also, check their blog for pictures and stories of their big trip, which will include their stop here in Seoul.