August 13, Tuesday: Ridge of Wind, Tree Track, and BULGOGIIIIIIII

So this is day 2 of of excursion outside of Seoul!  There was a lot of bus riding in between all the various places we had to go, so we were going all over the countryside.  The first place on the agenda was the Ridge of Wind, a large mountain with cabbage farms spattering the side and a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside.

It smelled of cabbage, but that wasn't particularly a bad thing.  It was really really sunny and roasting, but very nice.  I think we were lucky in Seoul, since there are a lot of clouds most of the time, but we got to see some pretty cool sights.

After this, it was off to the 365 Safety experience center, to run through the tree track (a somewhat military esque training exercise) and to learn about natural disasters in a 4D theater.

All Korean men are obligated to go into the military when they are 21 or so.  It's not a choice; you have to go for about 2 years.  It's apparently the source of some controversy in Korea at the moment; according to one of my chaperones, the higher ups would force the newer members to do menial tasks for their entertainment, and it was always boring and harsh (such as playing rock paper scissors with the mirror until you won).  But the actual military exercise was fun.  Climbing ropes and swinging logs, as well as a zipline.

We had to take a lift up the mountain to get there.  I believe I was the only one who fell on one of the exercises, walking across logs.  It was... embarrassing 

I don't have any pictures of the 4D experience, but it was essentially a 3D movie that had a rocking and rolling seat / car you sat in.  Haha, it was very interesting.

For dinner, we had Bulgogi, which is a type of marinated Korean meat cooked on a fire.  I really loved all the meat in Korea; it was just so amazing.  For this dish, a dome shaped grill rests in the center of the table.  You pile the raw meat, mushrooms, noodles and onions onto the dome while the waitress lights the fire, then you slowly cook it until the oil on the sides is boiling, at which point you drop the meat into the oil.  I could just not have enough of this dish.  Korean meat is really just to die for.

That was it for this day, we went to a different hotel and got ready for the next day.